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ANCIENT ATHENS 




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ANCIENT ATHENS 



BY 



ERNEST ARTHUR GARDNER 

YATES PROFESSOR OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON 

FORMERLY DIRECTOR OF THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ATHENS 

AUTHOR OF "A HANDBOOK OF GREEK SCULPTURE," ETC., ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 









THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
1902 

All rights reserved 



THF U9WAHV OF 
CONCSREiSS, 

T\mr> CflWii* Rt-CKIYgO 

CLAftA #-OOto Mo. 
COPY 8, 



Copyright, 1902, 
By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped November, 1902. 



* c 

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e • 



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Norwood Press 

J. S. Cusbing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



PREFACE 

Sunt quibus unura opus est intactae Palladis urbem 

Carmine perpetuo celebrare, et 
Undique decerptam fronti praeponere olivam. 

The author of a book on Ancient Athens must needs 
owe much to his predecessors, and these are so many 
that, in an attempt to make more particular acknow- 
ledgment, there is no little danger of omission. In 
stating a few of the sources from which I am conscious 
of having borrowed most, I have no wish to slight the 
more numerous authorities to which others, and possibly 
I myself, owe as great or perhaps a greater debt. But 
this difficulty can hardly be avoided without allowing 
a preface to grow into a bibliography. 

Among earlier travellers, I have most frequently con- 
sulted Wheler, Stuart, Dodwell, and Leake. Among 
those whom it has been my privilege to hear as well 
as to read, I would especially mention Mr. F. C. Penrose, 
F.R.S., and Professor Dorpfeld. Of recent works on 
Athens, I have constantlv referred to Curtius's Stadt- 
geschichte von A then and Mr. J. G. Frazer's edition of 
Pausanias ; Miss Harrison and Mrs. Verrall's Mythology 
and Monuments of Ancient Athens has also been use- 
ful. The existence of these works and others, such as 
Wachsmuth's Die Stadt A then in Alterthum, Hitzig and 



vi PREFACE 

Bllimner's edition of Pausanias, Michaelis's Der Par- 
thenon, and Jahn and Michaelis's Pausanice Descriptio 
Arcis Athenarum, has made it permissible to summa- 
rise results rather than to enumerate details of evidence, 
and I must refer to them any readers who wish to 
follow up matters of controversy or obscurity at greater 
length than has here been practicable or desirable. 
Professor Milchhofer's Schriftquellen zur Topographie 
von A then, attached to Curtius's Stadtgeschichte, are par- 
ticularly convenient, as exempting later writers from 
the necessity of constantly justifying their statements 
by references to classical authors. 

In order to disencumber the book of controversial 
matter, such discussions have been relegated, as far as 
possible, to the notes at the end of some of the chapters. 
Apart from these, it has been my aim to give as clearly 
and directly as possible the impressions produced by 
the sites and buildings described, as viewed in the light 
of the references made to them by classical authors. 
Where so much is doubtful, no writer can expect all 
his conclusions to be undisputed ; but I trust that the 
book will not be found to have misrepresented either 
the available evidence or the theories that have been 
based upon it. The more advanced school of topogra- 
phers may probably accuse me of a conservative bias, 
which I frankly admit, in so far as it implies that, where 
the evidence appears to be evenly balanced, I prefer to 
follow an opinion that is familiar and that has com- 
mended itself to generations of scholars, rather than to 
adopt the newest and most brilliant hypothesis. 



PREFACE 



vn 



The photographic illustrations for this book are some 
of them made from plates taken expressly for the pur- 
pose by Mr. C. Demetrion of Athens. Others are 
selected from the galleries of Athenian photographers, 
especially the admirable series of Messrs. Rhomai'des, 
whom I have to thank for their courteous permission 
to reproduce many of their finest plates. The photo- 
graphs of sculpture in the British Museum are mostly 
from Messrs. Mansell's collection. I am also indebted 
for several photographs to amateur friends ; among these 
I would mention my nephew, Mr. Arthur Gardner, espe- 
cially for his telephotographic views of architectural 
details, Mr. Stephen Marshall, Mr. F. Fletcher, and Miss 
Shove. Mr. Hasluck kindly made for me the sketch- 
diagram of the Attic coast. 

The maps and plans have been prepared under my 
direction by Messrs. Walker and Cockerell. The maps 
are based upon the survey in Curtius and Kaupert, 
Kartell von Attika, a work to which I owe also a more 
general acknowledgment. I wish to thank Professor 
Dorpfeld for his generous permission to reproduce sev- 
eral of his plans. Leave to make use of some plates 
from Dr. Middleton's Plans and Drawings of Athenian 
Buildings has been given me by the Society for the 
Promotion of Hellenic Studies and by Mrs. Middleton, 
who has also kindly allowed me to print Dr. Middleton's 
unpublished plan of the Parthenon. 

I have received help in the reading of the proof-sheets 
from my brother, Professor Percy Gardner of Oxford, 
and from my sister, Miss Alice Gardner of Newnham 



viii PREFACE 

College, Cambridge, both of whom I have to thank for 
many useful suggestions. 

The question of the spelling of Greek names is always 
difficult; even if a scientific system be adopted, it can- 
not be followed with rigid accuracy. My general rule 
has been to transliterate from the Greek to the Latin 
alphabet as an educated Roman would have done. But 
some exceptions, " Nike " for example, are almost inevita- 
ble for convenience ; nor have I aimed at any complete 
consistency in the use of forms in -os and -us, -on and 
-um, a matter on which Roman usage itself varied. In 
spelling, custom and familiarity must be the paramount 
considerations; and I think a natural reaction is setting 
in among scholars against a too indiscriminate use of 
k, ei, on, etc., in forms that are often not only uncouth 
in appearance, but actually misleading in pronunciation. 

Finally, I must ask the indulgence of the reader 
towards a book printed in America while I am myself 
in London, and under circumstances which have pre- 
cluded as complete a revision as I could have wished 
both of the text and of the illustrations. 

University College, London, 
October, 1902. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

PAQE 

Situation and Natural Features i 

a. The Water Supply .16 

b. Building Materials . .29 

CHAPTER II 

The Walls of the Acropolis and the Town .... 36 
a. Two Notes on Thucydides II. 13. 6 68 

CHAPTER III 
The Acropolis before the Persian Wars . -73 

CHAPTER IV 

The Town before the Persian Wars 88 

a. Note on Thucydides II. 15. 3, 4 141 

CHAPTER V 
Early Attic Art . . . 152 

CHAPTER VI 
The Acropolis in the Fifth Century 208 

CHAPTER VII 
The Parthenon 257 

CHAPTER VIII 

The Erechtheum and the Temple of Victory . • • 353 

ix 



x CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IX 

PAGE 

The City in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries . . . . 3^ 

CHAPTER X 

The Theseum, the Asclepieum, and the Theatre . . . 410 

CHAPTER XI 
The Ceramicus 455 

CHAPTER XII 
Athens in Hellenistic and Roman Times ..... 479 

CHAPTER XIII 

Pausanias in Athens . . -511 

a. On the Route of Pausanias . . . . . . 534 

&. Topographical Summary of Route of Pausanias . . 538 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Piraeus 542 

INDEX 565 



LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES 



The Acropolis, from the Garden of the Zappeion 



The Acropolis, from the Museum Hill 

The Parthenon, from the East 

The Parthenon, from the North-west 

Erechtheum, from the West . 

Theseum and North Side of Acropolis 

Theatre, from the East . 

The Olympieum, from the South-east 



Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

73 

220 
257 
360 
410 

434 
486 



PLANS 

The Dipylon Gate .62 

Excavation West of Acropolis ........ 108/ 

The Parthenon ........... 260 

The Erechtheum ............ 356 

The Erechtheum — Section from East to West ..... 358 

Dionysiac Theatre .......... 436 

Scena of Theatre ........... 444 

Library of Hadrian .......... 498 

Galley-slips in Harbour of Munychia . . . . . . • 554 



XI 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Athens, from the Sea .... 

The Sea, from the Museum Hill 

The Sea, from the Museum Hill . 

Olive Grove near Athens, at Kolokython 

Athens, from the Observatory Hill 

Athens, from the Observatory Hill 

The Acropolis, from Lycabettus 

Pentelicus in Winter, from near Cynosarges 

Diagram of Attic Coast as seen from the Sea 

Tourkovouni and Lycabettus 

Athens, from the South 

Athens, from the South 

The Acropolis and Salamis . 

Callirrhoe, and Ridge of Rock in the Bed of the Ilissus 

Interior of the Cave in the Asclepieum . 

Steps leading to Clepsydra . 

Door of Clepsydra .... 

Aqueduct built by Pisistratus 

End of Roman Aqueduct 

Naxian Quarry, with Unfinished Colossus 

Ancient Quarry on Pentelicus 

Wall and Tower at Tiryns 

Wall at Mycenae ..... 

Pelasgic Wall at the South-east of the Acropolis 

Rocks, Cleft, and Steps cut in Rock, on North-west of Acropolis 

Acropolis from Areopagus, showing Caves and Long Rocks 

Wall South of Dipylon Gate 

Marble Drums 

The Acropolis, from the South, showing the Cimonian Wall 

Bastion and Temple of Nike, from below 

The Acropolis, from the West 

The Dipylon Gate 

The Sacred Gate . 

The Barathron 

The Arch of Hadrian 

A Rock-cut House 



PAGE 
2 
2 

3 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

10 

ii 

12 
13 

'5 

20 

22 
24 

2 5 
27 

28 

32 

34 
40 

4i 

43 
46 
48 

50 
52 
53 

55 
60 

62 

65 
66 

67 
73 



XIV 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Koile, with Foundations of Houses and Steps 

Koile, with Rock-cut Foundations 

Foundation of Peristyle of Old Temple 

Great Altar of Rock and View of North-east Corner of 

Lycabettus, from the Acropolis 

Cave of Apollo . . 

Cave of Pan .... 

Pit of Sacrifice in Asclepieum 

Polygonal Walls of Cistern . 

The Pnyx, from the Areopagus 

Bema and Rock-cut Wall of Pnyx 

Excavations West of Acropolis 

Early Precinct of Dionysus . 

The Olympieum and Stadium, from the Acropolis 

Stadium (before Recent Restoration) /and Modern Bridge ov 

Site of Agora, from Acropolis 

Site of Agora, from near Theseum 

Site of Agora, from near Theseum 

District of Limnae . 

Dipylon Vase, with Funeral . 

Amphora from Hymettus 

Early Prothesis Vase, with Tomb 

Early Pediment — Heracles and Hydra 

Part of Early Pediment — Heracles and Triton 

Bull and Lions ...... 

Man carrying Calf ..... 

Female Draped Figure ..... 

Relief of the Nymphs or Horae 

Flat Decorative Bronze Relief of Athena 

Bronze Statuette of Athena Promachos . 

Bronze Statuette of an Athlete 

Head of a Young Man ..... 

Rough Terrace Wall and Staircase South of Parthenon 

Athenian Coin . 

View from near Temple of Nike . 

Propylaea, from Nike Bastion, in Turkish Times 

North End of West Front of Parthenon 

The Propylaea, from South Wing . 

Propylaea, from the East .... 

Propylaea, from the North-east 

Propylaea : Side Aisle of Central Hall . 

Ionic Capitals of Propylaea and Erechtheum . 

Bastion and Temple of Nike, from the North 

Erechtheum. from the South-east . 

Inscribed Basis of Statue of Athena Hygieia by Pyrrhus 



Parthenon 



er Ilissus 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



xv 



Athenian Coin ...... 

Early Seated Statue of Athena 

Heading of a Treaty between Athens and Samos 

Portrait of Pericles ..... 

The Parthenon in Turkish Times . 

Interior of Parthenon, looking East 

North Side of Parthenon, showing Curve of Steps 

Unfinished Drums of Columns . 

Joint of Fallen Drum, showing Various Working of Surface 

Section of Part of Parthenon, Restored 

South-west Corner of Parthenon, showing Metope S. I., in situ 

Metope S. XXVIII. 

Metope S. XXVII. 

Metope S. VII. . 

Metope S. XXX. . 

Metope S. XXXI. 

Carrey's Sketch of West Pediment 

Carrey's Sketch of East Pediment 

Cecrops and Daughter . 

Birth of Athena 

Sketch Restoration of East Pediment 

" Horas " and Iris, from East Pediment 

" Theseus," from East Pediment . 

Three Draped Female Figures, from North End of East Pediment 

De Laborde Head, probably from Parthenon Pediment 

Horse of Selene, from East Pediment . 

West Frieze of Parthenon .... 

Knights, from North Frieze .... 

North Frieze of Parthenon (Older men) 

North Frieze of Parthenon (Men bearing vases) 

North Frieze of Parthenon (Cows) 

North Frieze of Parthenon (Sheep) 

East Frieze of Parthenon (Maidens) 

East Frieze of Parthenon (Group of gods) 

East Frieze of Parthenon (Priest, priestess, and attendants, and group 

of gods) 

West Frieze of Parthenon, in situ 

South Frieze of Parthenon .... 

Group of Three Gods ..... 

Athena Parthenos — Lcnormant Statuette 

Erechtheum, from the South-east . 

Part of North Portico of Erechtheum 

Capital of Column, North Portico of Erechtheum 

Base of Column, North Portico of Erechtheum 

Band of Carving, from Top of Wall of Erechtheum 



248 
251 
254 

2 55 
261 

268 

272 

275 

277 

280 

285 

286 

287 

289 

290 

291 

294 

295 

302 

306 

308 

310 

316 

3i8 
320 
322 
324 

325 
326 

327 
328 

329 
33o 
332 

333 
336 
339 

34i 
345 
353 
366 

367 
367 
368 



XVI 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



'• Caryatids " of Erechtheum . 

Temple of Athena Nike, from the North-east 

Slab of South Frieze of Temple of Nike 

Slab from Balustrade of Temple of Nike 

Slab from Balustrade of Temple of Nike 

Cave above Theatre .... 

Choragic Monument of Thrasyllus above Theatre in Turkish 

Theseum, from the West, showing Frieze, in situ 

Metope of Theseum .... 

Metope of Theseum .... 

Athenian Coin ..... 

Middle Block of Front Seats in the Theatre 

Theatre and Olympieum, from Acropolis 

Relief from Theatre .... 

Relief from Theatre .' . . ' . 

Sculptured Frieze, supporting Later Stage in 

Marble Lutrophoros and Lecythi on Relief 



Monument of Hegeso 



Theatre 



Tomb Relief 

Monument of Dexileos . 

Tomb Relief (Family group — parting scene) 

Tomb Relief (Old man, young athlete, and slave boy) 

Tomb Relief (Young warrior seated on prow of ship) 

Tomb Relief (Deceased as hero at a banquet) 

Marble Lutrophoros with Relief 

Stoa of Attalus 

Capital of Column in Olympieum 

Tower of the Winds 

Gate of Roman Market 

Monument of Philopappus 

West End of Library of Hadrian 

Odeum of Regilla . 

Roman Baths 

Harbour of Phalerum and Phaleric Bay 

General View of Piraeus from Munychia 

General View of Piraeus from Munychia 

Harbour of Phalerum (Fanari) 



Times 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

CHAPTER I 

SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 

Epe^^et'Sat to 7raXaLov oAfttoi, 

Kail 6e£i)v 7rat8e? p,a/«xpw, tepas 

X<opas aTropdrJTov r d,7ro<£ep/3op,evoi 

KAeLVOTOLTCLV (TOfjiLav, del Sia \ap7rp0TaT0v 

/JaiVovres a(3pios ai#epos, evOa 7ro0' ayvas 

ivvea IliepiSas Moucra.9 Atyovcrt 

iavOav 'Ap/xovLOLV <f>vTevo~aL ' 

tov KaAAivdov r a.7ro K.rj(f)Laov poas 

rav Ki»7rptv KXrj^ovatv acj>vaaapievav 

^a)pas Kara7rvevcrat /xerpta? avep.<x>v 

Y}$v7rv6ovs avpas ' del 8' e7ri/3aAAop,evaj/ 

yaiTauiLv evwSr) poSewv 7tA.okov dv^e'toy 

ra cro(J3ta TrapeSpovs irepxreiv epcoras, 

-iravTotas dperds £wepyous. 

— Eur. ^?</. 824-845. 

It is always instructive to trace the influence of geo- 
graphical conditions upon the history of a people and 
upon its national character; this influence is peculiarly 
strong in the case of the Greeks, who were keenly 
sensitive to their surroundings, whether natural or arti- 
ficial. It was not only the material conduct of life, 
in politics and in commerce, that was thus affected, 
but the aesthetic propriety of artistic and literary forms, 
or even of national aims and ambitions. 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Athens from the Sea. 
New Phalerum in front; Tourkovouni and Pentelicus behind. 

The clear air and temperate climate of Athens are 
constantly dwelt on by Attic writers as influencing the 




The Sea from the Museum Hill. 
On the coast is the Phaleric Bay; Piraeus to the right, ^£gina above, to the left. 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 3 

character of her people. This clear and luminous air 
may still be appreciated by a visitor to Athens. Not 
only the sea with the nearer islands of Salamis and 
y£gina, but also the more distant coast of Argolis, 
are constant features in the landscape, while even Cyl- 
lene and Erymanthus and Parnon, eighty to a hundred 
miles away in the heart of the Peloponnese, are fre- 
quently visible. Yet there is none of the hardness 
of outline which often accompanies extreme clearness; 
everything is seen through a kind of luminous haze 
which often makes the distances difficult to realise. 
Perhaps the temperate climate of Athens is not always 
so obvious to modern travellers, especially when a cold 




The Sea from the Museum Hill. 
Salamis beyond. 



4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

north wind is sweeping down from Thrace in winter 
or early spring, or when a June sun is reflected from 
the white marble walls and pavements. It is, indeed, 
probable enough that the climate has suffered a good 
deal from the denudation of the soil, and, above all, 
from the destruction of the forests in comparatively 
modern times. But in spring and autumn, and even 
sometimes in winter, the climate of Athens resembles in 
many ways that of an English summer at its best ; while 
even in the hottest time of year the Athenians of 
to-day claim that the heat is never unbearable, thanks 
to the sea breeze that regularly springs up about ten 
in the morning. 

Those who have not realised the exact position of 
Athens on the map are sometimes surprised, when first 
they go there, to find the sun setting over a western sea. 
Yet this is a fact which probably had some influence, 
not only over the light and colouring of the Athenian 
landscape, but also on the history of the people. For, 
while the whole ^Egean was readily accessible to the 
navies and the commerce of the Athenians, the sea that 
lay beneath their eyes was an inlet into the Greek main- 
land. The diversity of sea and land, as seen in the view 
over the Saronic Gulf from Athens, is not only beautiful 
in itself, but also full of invitation to sailors who, like 
the Greeks, shunned the open sea. To them a maritime 
empire and an island or peninsular empire were synony- 
mous ; and here its conditions were most happily 
combined. 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 5 

At first, however, it was the more immediate and 
material necessities of life that had most influence. 
The geographical position of Athens combined most 
of the requirements that were essential to the security 
and prosperity of a Greek city. We find that these 




Olive Grove near Athens, at Kolokythou. 
Acropolis in middle distance. 

requirements are provided for, in a greater or a less 
degree, in .the case of most of the principal towns of 
Greece. We may roughly classify them under three 
heads: provision of food, protection from enemies, and 
means of commerce. 

The question of food supply in early times practically 
resolves itself into pasturage and agriculture, though in 
the great days of Athens, as in modern England, it was 
mainly a question of commerce and control of the sea. 
Pasturage for flocks of sheep, goats, and pigs was to be 
found in the low-growing plants and shrubs that cover 
the Greek mountains, and so was practically ubiquitous 



6 ANCIENT ATHENS 

in Greece. Cattle can never have been reared in any 
great quantity in the grassless plains of Attica, and must 
then, as now, have been imported. Corn will grow in 
the Athenian plain, though the soil is light and the crop 
is usually a thin one; elsewhere in Attica the soil is 




Athens from the Observatory Hill. 
Theseum and Lycabettus ; above, Tourkovouni and Pentelicus. 

better adapted to it, especially in the Rharian plain near 
Eleusis, where, according to the religious tradition, the 
gift of Demeter was first planted upon the earth by 
Triptolemus. The vine grows freely round Athens, 
usually in dwarf bushes to escape the force of the wind ; 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 7 

the wine of Attica was not famous in antiquity, but it 
probably was- produced abundantly, as in modern times, 
for the use of the inhabitants. But, above all, the prod- 
uce of the Athenian plain is the olive, the gift of Athena 
to her chosen city. The course of the Cephisus, from 




Athens from the Observatory Hill. 
Areopagus and Acropolis ; above, Hymettus. 

its source right down to the sea, is marked by a broad 
belt of olive groves, which have probably occupied the 
same ground in continuous succession since the first 
scions of the sacred tree of Athena were planted there. 
With such resources available, it was inevitable that the 



8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Athenian plain should come to be occupied by a city. 
Indeed, one is even inclined at first to dispute the cor- 
rectness of Thucydides, when he gives the lightness of 
the Attic soil as the reason why the country had es- 
caped foreign occupation, and its autochthonous inhab- 
itants had remained undisturbed from the earliest times. 
But he doubtless had in his mind an implied comparison 
with the rich plains of Laconia and Messenia, or even of 
Argos or Bceotia; and it is true that the product of 
these districts is more varied, partly owing to the greater 
fertility of the soil, partly to the superior and more con- 
tinuous supply of water. The agricultural resources of 
Attica, if not tempting to a conqueror, were at least 
adequate to meet the needs of the inhabitants. 




The Acropolis, from Lycabettus. 



From the point of view of defence, the situation of 
Athens is similar to that of Argos, Megara, Corinth, and 
others of the chief towns of Greece. It is grouped 
around the defensible citadel of the Acropolis, which 
according to Thucydides formed, with its immediate 
surroundings, the whole town in early times. This rock 



t 

SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES o 

is situated jn the midst of the plain; though not so 
commanding in height as the Acrocorinth or the 
Larissa of Argos, it is far more convenient and acces- 
sible. It is four or five miles from the sea, and thus safe 
from any sudden descent of enemies or pirates ; the sea 
is so clearly visible from many parts of the town that, in 
case of any hostile approach, there was time enough to 



Pentelicus in Winter, from near Cynosarges. 

warn the inhabitants of the plain to take refuge in the 
citadel. An attack by land was almost equally well 
guarded against. The mountains that surround the 
plain are nowhere so near the city that an enemy could 
suddenly pour over them without giving any warning of 
his approach. On the south-east is the long ridge of 
Hymettus, on the north-east Pentelicus; between the 
two is a low pass that leads to Marathon, and that is 
the natural route for an invader who has landed upon 
the east coast of Attica; there is another route between 
Hymettus and the sea, but it is not one that a stranger 



IO 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



o E 
Q. u 



O d) 



si 



w 

a 

O 
Pi 

w 
w 



CO <A 

o 

'>* a 

m £ 

o 



would be likely to take. To the north-west 
the Athenian plain is separated from the 
Eleusinian by the low but rocky ridge of 
^Egaleos. There is a low pass, which is 
crossed by a fortification wall of uncertain 
date, between this and Parnes on the north; 
and it is intersected in the midst by the pass 
of Daphne, along which runs the Sacred Way 
to Eleusis. These were the usual routes of 
any army attacking Athens from the main- 
land, as in the Peloponnesian War; and 
they seem never to have been regarded as 
defensible, probably because they could all 
be turned by light-armed troops crossing 
the ridge, which, though steep, is nowhere 
inaccessible ; but the distance from Athens 
of either pass is so great that they offered 
no risk of surprise. Between Parnes and 
Pentelicus there is a tract of broken ground, 
which affords the most direct route to 
Marathon, and by which the Athenians re- 
turned in their forced march after the bat- 
tle ; but this would hardly be chosen by any 
who did not know the country; another 
route through the same gap leads beneath 
Decelea and past the frontier fortress of 
CEnoe to the north-eastern portion of Bceotia. 
The Athenian plain itself is divided in the 
midst by a range of hills which ends, toward 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES n 

Athens, in the peak of Lycabettus ; the ancient name 
of this range is not certainly known ; it is now called 
Tourkovouni (the Hill of the Turks), for what reason 
I do not know. Lycabettus is now, and must always 
have been, the most conspicuous object in the imme- 
diate surroundings of Athens ; the scanty references to 
it in ancient literature are always a puzzle to those who 
have seen it. Between it and the sea are a series of 
lower hills, — first the Acropolis, with its satellite the 




Tourkovouni and Lycabettus. ' Pentelicus behind. 
In front, the Areopagus is just visible on the left, the Acropolis on the right. 

Areopagus, and further still the range that extends from 
the hill now crowned by the Observatory on the north 
to the Museum with the monument of Philopappus on 
the south, the Pnyx lying in the midst between them. 
The similar geological formation of all these hills, 
which consists of a mass of limestone above and of sand- 
stone below, probably suggested to Plato 1 the most 
remarkable piece of geological theorising of ancient 

1 Critias, 112, A. 



12 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



times, in which he anticipates much of the modern 
view of subaerial denudation, and also makes several 
statements as to the climate of Athens which are as 
true to-day as when he wrote them. The original 
city, he says, stretched from Lycabettus to the Pnyx, 
and from the Ilissus to the Eridanus ; and it is evident 
from his description that he regards the whole of this 




Athens from the South. 
Museum Hill and Acropolis. 

area as a plateau, originally level, of which the hills 
that are now to be seen are the only surviving por- 
tions. The rest, he says, has been washed away by 
floods ; and his view is the same as that of modern 
geologists, except that they would probably regard 
the process as a slower one than he imagined. He 
also notices that a similar process has been going on 
throughout Attica, that the hills now showing are like 
a skeleton, from which its flesh — that is, the soil — 
has been washed away. In former days, he says, there 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 



x 3 



was much more wood, and the ground consequently 
held and stored the water better, instead of allowing 
it to run away at once into the sea as soon as a shower 
had fallen. All these remarks are just what might 
be, and indeed have been, made by a man with an 
eye for country when he visits Athens now ; but it 
is interesting to find that the same process was going 




Athens from the South. 
Olympieum and Lycabettus. 

on in the fourth century b.c, and even that it had 
already achieved many of the same results. 

However interesting Plato's suggestions may be as 
a piece of geological speculation, they affect a period 
too remote to have any relation to historical geog- 
raphy. When the earliest settlers whom we can trace 
established their abode there, the various hills of 
Athens must have been just about as they are now. 
The use that was made of them for purposes of fortifi- 
cation we shall see later; it is enough to observe for 



i 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the present that the Acropolis must always have been 
the most suitable as a citadel, and that the other hills, 
though useful as outworks, did not in any way menace 
its security. 

The plain and the citadel being thus available for food 
supply and for defence, it remains to consider the third 
requirement of an ancient city — in this case, perhaps, 
the most important of all. The mountainous nature of 
Greece and the immense length of its coast line, which 
allows no place on the m'ainland to be more than two or 
three days' journey from the sea, imply of necessity that 
maritime carriage was the most important. Even in 
these days of roads and railways, the coasting trade still 
represents a considerable proportion of the commerce 
even on the mainland ; and the traffic with the islands is 
hardly less in extent. In ancient times the proportion 
of sea-borne to overland commerce was probably even 
higher, and Athens, at its convenient distance from 
the sea, and with its excellent harbours, had every 
opportunity for acquiring it. There were many com- 
mercial rivals in early times, and Miletus and Chalcis, 
^Egina and Corinth, bade fair even to surpass Athens. 
The commanding position which she obtained was 
doubtless due in the first place to the enterprise and 
versatility of her inhabitants, but partly also to her 
geographical position, which gave her a footing on 
the mainland as well as an excellent base from which 
to control the sea. It is probably this advantage 
of a continental over a purely insular position that 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 



J 5 















■k 


-<*&Jm^ 


Hfe? 
















j^ -*f* hJi '4 




H ^fei^^i 








-J*;*? 




1 >. .« , 



The Acropolis and Salamis. 
From south slope of Lycabettus. 

enabled Athens to surpass some of her ancient rivals, 
just as it is enabling the Piraeus at the present day 
to outstrip the rival port of Syra. On the other hand, 
Attica is not a highway of traffic like the Isthmus; 
by lying, as it were, in a backwater from the main 
streams of commerce, Athens escaped the commercial 
temptations of Corinth, which brought with them an 
enervation and luxury that were fatal to political and 
even literary vigour and independence. The distance 
of Athens from the sea was sufficient, as we have seen, 
for security from attacks ; but it was not great enough 
to cause any inconvenience. The description of the 
various harbours of Athens must be reserved for the 
chapter on the Piraeus. Here it suffices for us to 
notice that they offered every natural advantage 



16 ANCIENT ATHENS 

demanded by the changing conditions of earlier and 
later times, in the open, sandy bay of Phalerum, admi- 
rably adapted for the beaching of ships, and in the three 
closed harbours of the Piraic promontory, which offered 
complete protection both from storms and from hostile 
attacks. 

With all these natural advantages, we need not so 
much wonder at the commanding position of Athens 
among the cities of Greece, as at the fact that she did 
not assume her destine'd role until a comparatively 
advanced period in the history of Greek civilisation. 

/ a. The Water Supply 

Athens is but ill supplied with water naturally, and 
the provision of a sufficient supply for the growing 
town must always have been a difficult matter for its 
rulers. The two chief streams of the Athenian plain 
are, as is well known, the Ilissus and the Cephisus. 
But the Cephisus, though it irrigates the olive groves 
that were among the chief agricultural resources of 
Athens, nowhere approaches within a mile of the town; 
and the Ilissus, though it passes much nearer, has but 
a scanty and intermittent stream, and is liable to con- 
tamination in its upper course. A third stream, the 
Eridanus, is taken by Plato as bounding the original 
plateau of the town of Athens on the opposite side 
from the Ilissus, and these two are also mentioned by 
Pausanias as the two rivers of Athens. Older topog- 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 17 

raphers, by an unaccountable error, place the Eri- 
danus on the left bank of the Ilissus. There can be 
no doubt that Professor Dorpfeld is right in identify- 
ing it with the stream which rose upon the slope of 
Lycabettus, passed through the region occupied by 
the modern town, and in part also by the ancient, and 
flowed out through the narrow gap in the city wall to 
the south of the Dipylon Gate. In later times this 
stream, like the Fleet Ditch of London, was practically 
the main drain of the town ; it was covered over for 
most of its course, and an arch and sluice gates be- 
longing to it may still be seen near the Dipylon. 
The only difficulty in identifying it with the Eri- 
danus lies in Pausanias' statement that the Eridanus 
was a tributary of the Ilissus, while this stream appar- 
ently runs in the direction of the Cephisus ; but on 
Curtius' map of prehistoric Athens 1 it takes a turn 
to the south after leaving the town, and so joins the 
Ilissus just before that stream itself runs into the 
Cephisus. The ground enclosed by the Eridanus and 
Ilissus thus fits in admirably with Plato's theory as to 
the boundaries of the original plateau. In early times 
the water of the Eridanus may have been serviceable 
as it ran through the fields where the town was later 
built. Strabo says its springs could still be seen out- 
side the Gate of Diochares, near the Lyceum, but to 
later writers it. seemed ludicrous to think of drinking 
its water, which was not fit even for cattle. 

1 Stadlgesch. II. 
C 



i8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

In the absence of satisfactory rivers, springs were of 
the utmost importance. There were several of these in 
Athens ; when Pausanias expressly says that there was 
only one, he probably means only one that gave an ade- 
quate supply of drinking water. This is the famous 
Enneacrunus, which was, as he says, so called, " the 
Fountain of Nine Spouts," because of the manner in 
which it had been decorated by Pisistratus. Other- 
wise, he says, the Athenians depended on the wells 
that were scattered all about the city. So far his testi- 
mony is probably to be accepted, and is in accordance 
with what we learn from other sources, though there 
are extremely grave difficulties in the way of recon- 
ciling the position he appears to indicate for this spring 
with the evidence of other writers. 1 The other chief 
authority as to this spring is Thucydides. In his 
account of the early city of Athens, he says that it 
comprised only the Acropolis and the district imme- 
diately to the south of it. 2 After quoting the position of 
various early shrines in support of this view, he men- 
tions also " the fountain now, from the work of the 
Tyrants, called Enneacrunus [" the Nine Spouts "], but 
formerly, when its springs were in the open, named 
Callirrhoe ["the Fair- flowing"]. This spring, being near, 
they made use of for the most important purposes ; and 
it is still customary, from old habit, to use the water for 
the bath before marriage and for other sacred purposes." 
This statement meets with striking confirmation from 

1 See Note XVI a. 2 See Note IV a . 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 19 

early Attic vases, on which maidens are seen bringing 
water from a fountain that gushes from spouts fashioned 
as lions' mouths, and actually labelled KaWipporj Kpyjvrj. 
Thucydides also shows a true archaeological judgment 
in citing this custom of the marriage bath as evidence. 
We know from other writers also that the custom was in 
high esteem ; the water was brought in vases of a special 
form that were made for the purpose ; and these vases, 
or their representations in marble, were set up over the 
tomb of those that died unmarried — a symbol that their 
bridal was with Hades. The rite of the marriage bath 
of Athens is analogous to a similar usage that we meet 
in many other places — the performance of a special act 
of devotion by a youth on attaining manhood, and by a 
maiden at her marriage, to the river-god, whose special 
function it was to foster the children of the state ; one 
need only quote the lock that Achilles kept for Sper- 
chius, and Orestes for Inachus, and the bath in the Sca- 
mander that was taken by the maidens of Ilium before 
their marriage. Such a solemn rite must clearly 
belong to the stream or spring regarded as the chief 
source of the life and fertility of the region ; and so it is 
evident that Callirrhoe or Enneacrunus must have 
enjoyed such special honour in Athens. The epithet 
ya^ocrroXo?, applied by Nonnus * to the Ilissus, at once 
suggests that this river was associated with Callirrhoe 

in the ritual. Thucvdides makes no exact statement as 

j 

x Dion. 39. 190. In this passage there is an immediate reference to the tale of 
Boreas and Orithyia, but the epithet is probably a traditional one. 



20 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



to the position of the spring, which has been disputed, 
mainly from the difficulty of reconciling the description 
of Enneacrunus by Pausanias with other indications ; 
but, Pausanias apart, 1 there is overwhelming evidence 
that Callirrhoe lay in the bed of the Ilissus. Thus, in 
the Axiochus 2 of Plato, Socrates, when by the Ilissus, 




Callirrhoe, and Ridge of Rock in the Bed of the Ilissus. 

sees Clinias running toward Callirrhoe ; Herodotus says 
that when the maidens of Athens went to fetch water 
from Enneacrunus, the Pelasgians, who lived under Hy- 
mettus (i.e. just on the other bank of the Ilissus), did 
violence to them ; Tarantinus, 3 a writer of uncertain 



1 See Note XIII a. 

2 If the Axiochus is not by Plato, this does not matter for the present purpose; 
it is in any case a fourth-century document. 3 Apud Hieroelem, Hippiatr., praef. 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 21 

date, speaks of the Athenians building the temple of 
the Olympian Zeus close to Enneacrunus, and the Ety- 
mologicum Magnum states that the fountain Ennea- 
crunus, formerly Callirrhoe, was beside the Ilissus. In 
addition to all this direct evidence there is also a passage 
in the comic poet Cratinus, " Lord Apollo, what a flow 
of words ; his mouth is a twelve-spout fountain ; Ilissus 
is in his throat," which doubtless alludes to Ennea- 
crunus, and connects its springs with the Ilissus. We 
learn also from more than one authority that the spring 
Enneacrunus was noted for the coolness of its water. 
In accordance with all this testimony, it is practically 
certain that we must recognise Callirrhoe in the spring 
which may be seen trickling from the ridge of rock that 
crosses the Ilissus just below the Olympieum. Spon and 
Wheler attest that this spring was still known by the 
name of Callirrhoe at the time of their visit to Athens in 
1676; its flow is now exceedingly scanty, but in 
Wheler's time it appears to have been more abundant ; 
variations in the position and supply of springs are of 
course to be expected, especially in a district that is 
liable to earthquakes. 

There would be no dispute as to the position of En- 
neacrunus if it were not for the testimony of Pausanias, 
which implies that the spring was close to the Agora, 
and is difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile with its 
situation near the Ilissus. Under these circumstances 
there are only two alternatives : to accept with Loeschcke, 
Dorpfeld, and others, the evidence of Pausanias as 



22 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



correct and to reject or explain away all the other 
evidence that is at variance with it ; or to accept, with 
Leake and the majority of other topographers, the evi- 
dence that has been given above as conclusive, and to 
explain the testimony of Pausanias as an error, either 
on his part or on that of his interpreters. 1 Either 




Interior of the Cave in the Asclepieum. 
Behind the curved slabs is the sacred spring. 

course is open to very grave objections ; and if the sec- 
ond is here adopted, it is with the fullest sense of its diffi- 
culty, a difficulty discussed in the note to the chapter on 
Pausanias. Nothing would justify so improbable an 
assumption but the necessity of a still more improbable 
assumption in the alternative case ; and the opinion of 

1 Mr. Frazer's summary of this controversy is admirably impartial and convincing. 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 23 

those who prefer to follow Pausanias, and to identify 
as Enneacrunus the aqueduct described below, must be 
admitted to have much in its favour. 

Though Callirrhoe was the only spring that gave a 
copious stream of good water, there were several other 
springs in Athens. Three at least of these were on 
the Acropolis or its immediate neighbourhood; all of 
them had more or less brackish water, and consequently 
we find a tradition that all three of them had a myste- 
rious connection with the sea. The most famous was 
the salt spring or sea (Od\aacra\ below the Erechtheum, 
produced by Posidon as his symbol in his contest with 
Athena for the land of Attica. Pausanias relates that 
when there was a wind, the waves of the sea at Pha- 
lerum could be clearly heard at this spring, which he 
calls a well ((f^peap). The second was the spring in the 
Asclepieum, which was of ancient sanctity, and was 
probably recognised as possessing medicinal qualities ; 
the third is the Clepsydra, which lies just outside the 
main entrance to the Acropolis, on the north. It was 
reported of both these two springs that articles thrown 
into them reappeared in the sea at Phalerum. The 
Clepsydra was of more practical use than the others, 
and was included within the outworks of the Pelasgicon; 
it was once more included within the defences of the 
Acropolis by the bastion built by Odysseus Androut- 
sos during the war of independence, and recently de- 
molished. The steps that led down to it may still be 
seen below the north wing of the Propylasa. The 



24 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



water of the Clepsydra was also conducted, in Turkish 
times, 1 outside the fortifications, past the Tower of the 
Winds to the Great Mosque. Its water is still held in 
high esteem by the Athenians. There is also a fountain 
shown in some eighteenth-century and even later views 
of Athens, 2 which has led to some misapprehensions as 

to the existence of 
a spring at this 
spot; it is called 
by Dodwell 3 " a 
spring of impota- 
ble water." Close 
to it was a well 
called 'ApafiiKo 
HrjydSi, which is 
shown in Dod- 
well's plate. 4 An- 
other fountain, 
that of Panops, 
is mentioned in 
Plato's Lysis as 
outside a city gate 
on the way from the Academy to the Lyceum. This 
is probably identical with the spring quoted by Strabo 
as outside the Gate of Diochares, near the old source 
of the Eridanus ; 5 he says that in former times a 
fountain was built close to this, with a plentiful supply 




Steps leading to Clepsydra. 



1 Stuart, II. p. v.; cf. also Leake's map. 

2 E.g. Wordsworth, Greece (1839), p. 94. 



3 Greece, I. p. 36 1. 

4 Ibid. opp. p. 361. 



5 See p. 17, above. 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 



of good water. In any case it was probably too far out 
to count as one of the city springs; and, with the one 
exception of Callirrhoe, these probably all corresponded 
to the description of Vitruvius, who says the water 
from them had an iridescent scum on its surface, and 
that consequently 
they were not used 
for drinking, but 
only for washing 
and similar pur- 
poses. 

When the natural 
supply was so un- 
satisfactory, artifi- 
cial measures were 
evidently necessary 
as soon as the 
town began to in- 
crease in size. 
These could be of 
three kinds — wells, 
cisterns, and aque- 
ducts; and we find that all three were employed, both 
separately and in combination. The numerous wells 
of Athens are mentioned by several ancient writers ; 
and a considerable number have been found in excava- 
tions on the site of the ancient city, especially in those 
of Professor Dbrpfeld between the Pnyx, Areopagus, 
and Acropolis. On the top of the Acropolis large 




Door of Clepsydra. 



26 ANCIENT ATHENS 

cisterns were constructed for the storage of rain-water; 
one especially, to the north of the Propylaea, is still well 
preserved ; it is built of squared blocks of Piraic lime- 
stone and coated with stucco, and probably belongs to 
the sixth century b.c. Professor Dorpfeld's excavations 
have discovered, cut in the rocks of the Pnyx hill, 
where it faces the Acropolis, a whole series of wells, 
cisterns, and channels intended to gather together all 
the water that could be obtained. But neither wells nor 
storage sufficed; and one, of the chief results of Pro- 
fessor Dorpfeld's excavations near the Pnyx has been 
the discovery of a great aqueduct bringing a plentiful 
supply of water from high up the valley of the Ilissus. 
Some traces of this aqueduct had before been found 
beneath the Palace Garden and the Theatre of Dio- 
nysus. It emerges from the rock near the place 
where the carriage road to the Acropolis leaves the 
modern boulevard ; and is led thence, in a built chan- 
nel, to a large cistern constructed just at the foot of 
the Pnyx hill, opposite the entrance of the Acropolis. 
Some tile channels for the water have been found and 
are of sixth-century pottery ; and some scanty frag- 
ments of a fountain built for the outflow of the water 
are of Kara stone — a material indicating the same 
period. There can be little doubt that this aqueduct, 
which must have provided the chief water supply of all 
this part of the town, was built by Pisistratus ; it is 
exactly analogous to the aqueducts made by his friends 
and fellow-tyrants, Theagenes of Megara and Polycrates 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 



27 



of Samos ; and it affords an excellent example of the 
way in which those rulers courted popularity by provid- 
ing for the needs of the citizens. In Roman times the 
great cistern was filled up, and the water was conducted 
farther along, by a channel that can still be seen beside 
the modern road, to 
a point opposite the 
end of the Areopa- 
gus. Professor Dorp- 
feld, whose avowed 
object before mak- 
ing these excavations 
was to find the site 
of Enneacrunus, nat- 
urally regards this 
aqueduct and foun- 
tain as the work of 
the tyrants referred 
to by Thucydides 
and Pausanias. The 
difficulty in the way aqueduct built by pisistratus. 

of this opinion lies in the passages already quoted, which 
imply that Callirrhoe was in the bed of the Ilissus. 
Professor Dorpfeld himself has to assume the exist- 
ence of two fountains named Callirrhoe, one of which, 
that near the Pnyx, was afterward called Enneacrunus. 
Even this assumption does not, however, satisfy all the 
conditions ; the question is an extremely difficult one, 
and we shall have to recur to it in considering Pau- 




28 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



sanias. But, in the passage of Thucydides already 
quoted, the description of Callirrhoe " with its springs 
in the open " certainly does not suit the system of wells, 
channels, and cisterns, mostly subterranean, that have 
been already described as existing in the face of the 
Pnyx hill ; and it would moreover be inaccurate to say 
that this spring was " now, from the work of the tyrants, 
called Enneacrunus." What the tyrants did was to 
supersede the spring by an aqueduct- — a quite different 
thing. 

Another aqueduct, bringing water along the south- 
ern slope of Lycabettus from near Cephissia, was con- 




End of Roman Aqueduct. 
From Stuart's Antiquities of Athens. 



structed in Roman times ; it ended in a cistern on 
the south-west extremity of Lycabettus. Both aque- 
duct and cistern are in the same positions as the 
modern water supply of Athens. In Stuart's time 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 29 

the columns and architrave of a front to the cistern 
house were still standing, and their memory is pre- 
served in the name of this region of the modern town, 
to KokcjvaKi. On the architrave was an inscription, 
stating that the aqueduct was begun by Hadrian and 
completed by Antoninus Pius. 

/ 6. Building Materials used in Ancient Athens 

The materials used for building in ancient Athens 
were stone and marble, wood, and unbaked brick. As 
the two latter have in almost every case disappeared, 
the former alone concern us in a study of the extant 
remains. Baked brick was, of course, used also in 
Roman times ; but there are no very considerable or 
characteristic buildings of this material left in Athens, 
and those who wish to study its use can find what they 
require in the preface to Middleton's Rome. The 
chief kinds of stone used in Athens were the fol- 
lowing : — 

(1) The Acropolis rock, a hard, bluish gray lime- 
stone, which forms the upper part, not only of the 
Acropolis, but also of Lycabettus and most of the 
other hills of Athens. It was the most accessible for 
all purposes, and we find that it was used for most of 
the earliest buildings, such as the Pelasgic wall and 
the early temple of Athena. This rock is still quar- 
ried on Lycabettus and elsewhere, and most of the 
houses of modern Athens are built of it. It is gen- 



30 ANCIENT ATHENS 

erally, in ancient as in modern times, used in rough, 
irregular blocks, for it is not at all easy to square 
and smooth. 

(2) A soft sandstone which forms the lower stratum 
of the hills of Athens. It is a poor material, and was 
only used in early times for inferior work, often mixed 
with Acropolis rock; for instance, in the earliest 
orchestra circle of the Dionysiac Theatre. 

(3) Piraic limestone, the material described in offi- 
cial documents as olktCttj^ Xt#o5, from Akte, the farther 
portion of the Piraic promontory; it is still exten- 
sively quarried. It was used in immense quantities in 
ancient times, e.g. for the foundations of all the chief 
buildings of the fifth century, including the Parthenon 
and the Propylasa, for the Cimonian wall of the 
Acropolis, the Dionysiac Theatre, and the Odeum of 
Herodes Atticus. It was also used for the archi- 
tectural sculpture adorning all the early temples on 
the Acropolis. This is the material commonly known, 
especially in German works, as " poros " ; the word is 
perhaps better avoided, as it has come to be used 
very vaguely, and the statements of Pliny and Theo- 
phrastus as to poros (770/305 ?) are misleading, for they 
describe it as a kind of marble ; on the other hand, 
the TTojpLvos \l0os, mentioned both by ancient writers 
and in inscriptions, is certainly like this Piraic stone. 
It is also described by modern writers as tufa, cal- 
careous tufa, or travertine — the later a local Roman 
name. 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 31 

(4) Kara limestone, so called from a village at the 
foot of Hymettus, where it was quarried. This mate- 
rial, so far as is known, was used only in the sixth 
century, and so often affords valuable evidence as to 
date. It is harder and lighter in colour than the 
Piraic stone, and often has a pinkish tinge ; another 
peculiarity is the presence of cylindrical holes, due to 
marine shells. This may be seen in the foundation of 
the peristyle of the early temple of Athena, in the 
early temple of Dionysus by the Theatre, and else- 
where. It is usually called travertine by Middleton. 

(5) Conglomerate (pudding stone) or breccia, made up 
of water-worn pebbles cemented together by a calcareous 
deposit. This is found on several of the hills near 
Athens. It was freely used for foundations and con- 
cealed portions of buildings of the fourth century and 
later, but not much before this time. The earliest dated 
example is the foundation of the later temple of Dionysus 
by the Theatre, which contained the colossal statue by 
Alcamenes, probably dedicated about 420 b.c. It is also 
used for the inner part of the great retaining walls of the 
Theatre, which, though not completed till the time of 
Lycurgus (about 330 b.c), may have been begun a 
good deal earlier, perhaps in the fifth century. 

All these varieties of rough stone, where they showed, 
were usually coated with stucco. 

The different kinds of marble used in Athenian build- 
ings are almost exclusively white or bluish. Coloured 
marbles, such as are commonly used in Rome, are prac- 



32 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



tically unknown in Greece until Roman times, and 
although a few fragments of them may be seen lying 
about, they formed no part of any of the chief buildings 
now extant. These also may be found, by those who 
wish to study them, in the Introduction to Middleton's 
Rome. The chief marbles used in Athenian buildings 
are the following : — 

(i) Island marble from Paros and Naxos. This was 
used almost exclusively in early times before the quarries 




Naxian Quarry, with unfinished Colossus. 

of Pentelicus were worked. It is a white marble of high 
transparency, formed of coarse crystals varying in size ; 
the finest quality comes from Paros, and was always, 
in later as in earlier times, regarded as the best marble 
for sculpture. The Naxian is of coarser grain and infe- 
rior texture ; but there are also quarries of coarser 
marble in Paros, and of finer in Naxos, so that it is 
not always easy to distinguish the two. Both were 
used in early times for sculpture as well as for 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 33 

architecture ; even in buildings mostly constructed of 
limestone, the cornices and roof tiles were often of 
marble ; it was especially suitable, from its semitrans- 
parency, for the roof of a building without windows. 
Both materials may most easily be seen in the female 
statues on the Acropolis Museum ; most are Parian, 
but some Naxian — the one, for example, who holds a 
fruit to her breast. The great majority of the marble 
fragments of early date lying about on the Acropolis 
are of island marble. The Parian quarries have been 
worked in modern times, but are now deserted. 

(2) Hymettus marble, which was quarried earlier than 
Pentelic, varies in colour from white to blue ; that most 
used in ancient times was white with blue veins. It is 
harder and less transparent than Pentelic, but of finer 
grain than Parian. A good early example of its use is 
the statue of a man bearing a calf in the Acropolis 
Museum. In the fifth century it was not much used, 
but in the fourth century and later its variety of col- 
our was appreciated, and it was used especially for 
dados in stoae, as in the stoa behind the stage of the 
Theatre, and often in later times it was used for pave- 
ments in alternation with the white Pentelic. It is 
still quarried, and is extensively used in modern Athens. 

(3) Pentelic marble, which, next to Parian, is the 
best white marble known. It is of smaller and finer 
crystals than Parian, and cuts easily owing to its even 
texture, which almost resembles that of lump sugar ; it 
is fairly transparent, though less so than Parian ; and 



34 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



it contains a certain amount of iron, to which is due 
the beautiful golden tinge which it takes from weather- 
ing. The fact that Mount Pentelicus or Brilessus was 
made almost entirely of this marble appears not to have 




Ancient Quarry on Pentelicus. 

been discovered until the fifth century, and it is only 
after the Persian wars that Pentelic marble becomes 
the usual material for all the chief buildings ; the Par- 
thenon, the Erechtheum, the Propylaea, and most of the 
other monuments of Athenian architecture are made of 



SITUATION AND NATURAL FEATURES 35 

it. The best specimens of this marble are pure white, 
though blue veins are visible even in some of the 
blocks of the Parthenon. 

The quarries are still worked, and the chief buildings 
of modern Athens also are of Pentelic marble, but a 
perfectly white block is now hard to find ; almost all 
have blue veins in them, and some are as blue as 
Hymettian. It is said that Herodes Atticus used 
up all that was left of the finest quality in seating 
the Panathenaic stadium. The modern quarries may 
be seen as a white scar on the slope of Pentelicus, to the 
left of the summit as viewed from Athens. The ancient 
quarries are to the right. A new quarry, which has 
recently been opened, is said to have an abundance of 
pure white marble. 

These are the chief white marbles used in Athens ; 
isolated fragments of other kinds may be found, but 
there was no need to import from abroad, with so excel- 
lent and abundant a supply close at hand. To these 
may be added 

(4) Black Eleusinian stone, which, though not of 
crystalline texture and so not, properly speaking, marble, 
was used in conjunction with marble in the finest 
Athenian buildings. It is similar in texture to the 
Acropolis rock, but is black instead of blue in colour. 
It is used most effectively for a dado and for other 
decorative lines in the Propykea, and also as the back- 
ground to which marble figures in low relief were 
attached, in the frieze of the Erechtheum. 



CHAPTER II 

1HE WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 

We can distinguish three main periods in the history 
of ancient Athens as a walled city: first, there is the time 
when the Acropolis was the city, and there were no forti- 
fications except on the hill or its immediate outworks ; 
themcomes the brief but most interesting period when 
the town was provided with a wall and the Acropolis 
probably dismantled as a fortress, but when Athens still 
remained isolated in the midst of the Attic plain ; and 
after that the bold and magnificent design that con- 
nected the town with its seaports by the Long Walls, 
and so produced a city impregnable and unassailable so 
long as she remained mistress of the sea. Considerable 
remains are left of these various fortifications ; and, 
partly by their help, partly by a study of the natural 
features and their adaptability to defence or attack, it is 
possible still to form a fair notion of the boundaries of 
the town they enclosed. 

We must not form our conception of the rocky plateau 
of the Acropolis itself from the clearly outlined and 
symmetrical shape that is familiar to us from maps and 
plans, or even from our knowledge of Athens as it now 

36 




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WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 39 

is. The history of those straight and massive walls does 
not yet concern us, except in so far as it makes us realise 
that they are artificial in plan, and do not follow the natu- 
ral contours of the hill. The rock is, however, naturally 
precipitous on all sides except the west. The south side 
must always have been practically inaccessible ; but there 
are some difficult approaches on the north that were in 
part utilised for posterns. At either side, east and west, 
there was a shallow depression in the middle, facilitating 
a possible access. The oldest works of fortification are 
still standing in some places. The story goes that the 
early Athenians employed the Pelasgians to fortify the 
Acropolis for them with those gigantic walls, of which 
some remains are still to be seen. In size and character 
these walls are similar to the fortifications of Tiryns and 
of Mycenae. In the case of both these towns also the 
building of the walls is attributed to a foreign people ; 
the foreigners, however, are not the Pelasgians, but the 
Cyclopes, a race of mythical giants from Lycia. The 
divergence of tradition is a curious one ; for the primi- 
tive walls of all three cities are associated with fragments 
of pottery and other remains which all testify to a simi- 
lar civilisation and handicraft. Under these circum- 
stances the attribution of the building of the walls to a 
foreign people in each case, but to different foreigners, 
seems to imply nothing more than that the matter was 
a mystery to the later inhabitants, and is of no more his- 
torical value than the attribution of somewhat similar 
megalithic monuments to giants or to the devil with 



4Q 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



which we are familiar in northern Europe. Of course 
the whole question of the Pelasgians in early Greece 
cannot be dismissed so lightly ; but the tradition of their 
building the walls of the Acropolis is precisely analogous 
to the similar tradition about the Cyclopes from Lycia at 
Mycenae and Tiryns ; and that tradition has not as yet 




Wall and Tower at Tiryns. 



received any confirmation from archaeological evidence, 
though it would be rash, in view of the unexpected and 
startling discoveries of recent years, to deny that such 
evidence may possibly be discovered by future investiga- 
tion. We shall come across the Pelasgians again at 
Athens, and especially in relation to the Pelasgicon, or 
Pelargicon, which was probably a kind of outwork at 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 



4i 




Wall at Mycenae. 



the west end of the Acropolis. But, in relation to the 
great fortification wall that crowned the craggy summit 
of the Acropolis, this name gives us little help. 

The fortification, as has been said, follows the natural 
contours of the rock much more closely than the later 
wall ; and its chief purpose was evidently defence. Its 
course may be followed on the plan ; it survives on the 
south, east, and west sides in fragments that suffice to 
indicate its whole run. On the north side its position is 
more conjectural, chiefly because the later w T all in this 
part follows the natural contours more closely, and there- 
fore conceals its predecessors. The shallow depression in 
the rock at the east end is cut off by a massive wall, 



42 ANCIENT ATHENS 

built right across it, of which the lower courses still sur- 
vive. Indeed, the early fortress must practically have pre- 
sented the appearance of a large tower at each corner. 
The main entrance, as in later times, was at the west 
end, and was flanked, as is usual in early Greek fortresses, 
by a projecting bastion on its left, to which the right or 
shieldless side of an attacking enemy must be exposed. 
In addition to the main entrance, there was a postern 
approached by a long internal staircase, toward the 
eastern portion of the north side, in a position analogous 
to the posterns of Mycenae and Tiryns. There is also 
another very curious means of access, concealed in a 
natural cave, which is of great interest in later times ; 
but there is nothing to show whether it was taken into 
account in the earliest fortifications. 

At the west end, in front of the main entrance, was a 
kind of terraced outwork called the Pelasgicon, or Pelar- 
gicon ; it was also known as the Enneapylon, or en- 
closure of the Nine Gates. How these gates were 
placed there is no definite evidence ; but the most prob- 
able conjecture is that they were set one within another 
in a series of bastions or terraces ; a strong confirmation 
of this view is to be found in the Frankish and Turkish 
fortifications of this same slope, which have now been 
entirely demolished. These fortifications certainly did 
not follow the lines of the primitive ones, of which all 
trace had disappeared and all tradition was lost ; but 
they were dictated by similar conditions ; and old plans 
of the Acropolis show that in Turkish times the ap- 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 



43 



proach led gradually up to gate within gate, just as it 
must have done in the old Pelasgic outwork. Why 
it was called the Pelasgicon or Pelargicon is a very 
obscure question. 
The name may 
be due to the 
same tradition 
that attributed 
the walls of the 
Acropolis to the 
Pelasgians. But 
the other form, 
Pelargicon, 
which is perhaps 
the better at- 
tested of the two, 
is hard to ex- 
plain. Possibly 
Aristophanes,, in 
his jesting con- 
nection of the 
word with -rreXap- 
yo?, a stork, came 
nearer to the 
truth than he 
imagined. The 
place is not, indeed, in itself a likely one for storks to 
frequent; certainly none are to be seen there now. 
But several tribes of early Athens took their name from 




44 ANCIENT ATHENS 

birds or beasts — one need only remember the AlyyjU 
and AeovTLs — and such a tribe may have lived in this 
region. It is even possible that this may be the origin 
of the story about the Pelasgic walls ; but it must be 
admitted that the whole question is one of the greatest 
doubt and obscurity, and that any such conjectures as 
this are not to be admitted in serious argument The 
outwork probably extended originally some little way 
along the north side, and rather farther along the south 
side, as well as at the west end ; for a similar extent 
must be assigned to the sacred precinct that in later 
times occupied its place and inherited its name. 

We do not know how long the walls of the Acropolis 
remained the only fortification of Athens ; but as • the 
city grew, and the centre of civic life was transferred 
from the palace of the king to the agora in the town, 
it must have been desirable to protect the houses of 
the body of the citizens, and not merely to provide them 
with a refuge to which they could escape in case of 
attack. Such a change must in all probability have 
taken place at least as early as the reforms of Solon ; 
one would naturally expect it to be contemporaneous 
with the abolition of the kings. The Acropolis still 
remained as a citadel, and its occupation was naturally 
the first step taken by any one aiming at tyranny ; the 
ill-fated attempt of Cylon and the successful stroke of 
Pisistratus both serve as examples. The first positive 
evidence which we have as to the existence of a town 
wall is the narrative given by Thucydides 1 of the assassi- 

1 vi. 57. 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 45 

nation of Hipparchus by Harmodius and Aristogiton ; 
and he evidently had taken a good deal of trouble to 
ascertain all the details of this event correctly, since 
he observes that the current versions were far removed 
from truth. He says that on the day of the Panathe- 
naic procession Hippias was superintending the arrange- 
ments "outside in the Ceramicus"; and that Harmodius 
and Aristogiton, seeing one of their confederates 
speaking to him, and believing their plot to be betrayed, 
" rushed at once within the gate, and fell on Hipparchus 
beside the Leocorion." The proximity of the Leoco- 
rion shows that the gate in question must have been 
the one corresponding to the later Dipylon ; and the 
narrative implies not only that there was already a town 
wall for the gate to be in, but also that its line cannot, 
at this point, have been very different from that of the 
later circuit. 

When Hippias was driven out of Athens by the 
Alcmaeonidae with the help of the Lacedaemonians, 
the Spartan king occupied the Acropolis until he 
was expelled by Clisthenes. It was doubtless on this 
occasion that the Acropolis was dismantled as a for- 
tress ; for its danger to the security of the citizens, 
whether from a domestic tyrant or a foreign foe, had 
been amply demonstrated by recent events ; and when 
the Persians invaded Attica, twenty years later, it is 
evident that the Acropolis was not in a defensible 
state without the erection of temporary barricades. 

That the lower town was surrounded by a wall at 



4 6 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



the time of the Persian wars is sufficiently proved by 
its description in the Delphic response as rpo^oetS^?, 
wheel-shaped. Such a description could never have 
applied to the Acropolis, nor would it suit an unwalled 
town. It may perhaps be objected that it is difficult to 

see why, in that 
case, the Atheni- 
ans never thought 
of defending 
their city ; but the 
danger of such a 
course was mani- 
fest. Without the 
Long Walls, 
Athens was un- 
tenable against a 
prolonged and 
systematic invest- 
ment, such as the 
vast hordes of 
the Persians could 
easily maintain. 
Supplies would be entirely cut off, and there would 
have been no hope of relief unless the Persian army 
was defeated — an event of which there was not the 
slightest hope, without the Athenians themselves to 
join in attacking it. It is little wonder therefore that, 
when the Delphic oracle bade the Athenians trust to 
a wooden wall, the majority of the citizens transported 




Rocks, Cleft, and Steps cut in Rock, on North- 
west of Acropolis. 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 47 

their wives and children across the sea, and them- 
selves manned the ships that were to save Greece in 
the battle of'Salamis; a few, mostly old men, inter- 
preted the response more literally, and remained on 
the Acropolis, barricading the entrance with a wooden 
wall. This passage proves that without such a barri- 
cade the Acropolis was indefensible. The defenders 
held their own against assaults until the Persians 
found their way up by a precipitous and unguarded 
approach through the precinct of Agraulos. 1 It has 
generally been supposed that the escalading party 
either climbed up in the open, where they could 
hardly have escaped notice, or else ascended by the 
direct but narrow staircase that may still be seen 
above the grotto of Agraulos ; but so obvious a way, 
if not strongly barricaded, could hardly have been left 
unguarded. Recent excavations have shown a much 
more likely route. A natural cleft in the rock runs 
under or within the northern wall of the Acropolis ; 
its western entrance is in the projecting face of rock 
just to the west of the cave of Agraulos; it has also 
an outlet at the eastern end, nearly opposite the west 
end of the Erechtheum. Where this cleft is within 
the wall of the Acropolis, it has an opening at the 

■ 1 Herodotus' description of this way up. as in front of the Acropolis but behind 
the gates has caused some confusion. Leake, for example ( Top. Ath. p. 128), thinks 
it implies that Herodotus regarded the north side as the front, and quotes modern 
instances of the same view, while others thought front must mean east, to which the 
temples face. The entrance to the subterranean passage faces west, the same direc- 
tion as the main entrance, and is about seventy yards to the rear of it ; thus Herodo- 
tus' description is both accurate and obvious. 



4 8 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



top which gives access to the plateau above it ; but 
there is a sheer drop of about twenty feet, which might 
well lead the defenders to regard it as needing no guard ; 
and an attacking party, once within the cleft, could 
ascend at their leisure with scaling ladders or ropes. 
A mediaeval staircase goes part of the way down, but 
now ends abruptly, and must be descended with caution ; 
it is easy to pass right through the cleft from below. 




Acropolis from Areopagus, showing Caves and Long Rocks. 

The defenders of the wooden wall, thus taken in the 
rear, could make no further defence, and the Persians 
set about a systematic destruction of the temples, houses, 
and walls of Athens. We have no exact record of the 
extent or the manner in which they dismantled the forti- 
fications of either town or Acropolis; but something can 
be inferred from what Thucydides tells us of the proceed- 
ings of the Athenians as soon as they returned to the 
ruins of their city. His statements refer mainly, if 
not exclusively, to the walls of the town, and this fact 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 49 

alone is significant; in a democratic state the town 
walls were essential for defence, the existence of a forti- 
fied citadel was unimportant and even undesirable. In 
one passage 1 we read that " only a small portion of the 
circuit was still standing " ; in another 2 we have a most 
interesting account of the rebuilding : "In this way the 
Athenians built the wall of their town within a short 
time ; and the building still shows clear evidence of the 
haste with which it was carried out ; its foundations are 
of all kinds of stones, in many places not worked to fit, 
but just as the various workmen brought them ; and 
many tombstones and wrought blocks from earlier 
buildings were pressed into the service. For the cir- 
cuit was enlarged on every side of the city, and for 
this reason they hurried the work without respecting 
any restrictions." Some portions of the wall thus 
built still remain, especially in the neighbourhood 
of the Dipylon, where fragments of early tombstones 
have actually been found built into the wall, as Thu- 
cydides describes them; but, side by side with this 
striking confirmation of his words, we also have a slight 
difficulty to explain. His statement leaves no room for 
doubt as to the existence of the earlier circuit of town 
wall, which we have already seen to be both probable in 
itself and implied by clear though scanty evidence. But 
that evidence shows that, at least in the neighbourhood 
of the Dipylon Gate, the earlier and the later circuit 
must have nearly coincided ; and along the ridges of 

1 1. 89. 3. 2 L 93- 



5° 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



the hills to the west of the Acropolis the natural 
conformation of the ground allows but little varia- 
tion in the line of a defensive wall. We need not, 
however, press too literally the force of the expres- 




Wall South of Dipylon Gate. 

The lower part built by Themistocles, the upper part a later repair. In front, on 
the right, is the outer (and later) wall. 

sion 7ravTOL)(fj, on every side ; the general sense of the 
passage could accord very fairly with the facts if we 
suppose that the later circuit exceeded the earlier limits 
in the comparatively level ground to the north and to 
the east of the Acropolis, where there was more scope 
for a growing city, and where the modern town has now 
exceeded the limits of the ancient. 

The leading spirit in the restoration of Athens was 
Themistocles ; and his aims were not restricted to the 
rebuilding or enlarging of the walls of the town. He 
seems to have been the first great politician to have 
grasped the principle, so ably expounded by Captain 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 51 

Mahan, that the control of the sea is the true foundation 
of empire, and to have applied it to the conditions of 
the time and place. Before his days the Athenians de- 
pended on Phalerum as their port ; x he appears to have 
been the first to recognise and to turn to account the 
great natural advantages of the Piraeus. Thucydides 2 
again gives us the clearest account, and his statement 
is confirmed by other authorities : " Themistocles per- 
suaded them also to build the rest of the Piraeus — a 
portion of it already existed, built during his tenure of 
the archonship at Athens — because he thought that 
the position was a good one, having three natural har- 
bours, and that their taking to the sea was a great 
advantage for the acquisition of power. For he was 
the first to advocate the bold course of obtaining con- 
trol of the sea, and immediately took measures for 
organising empire. And by his advice they built the 
wall round the Piraeus of the thickness that may still be 
seen, broad enough for two chariots to pass ; 3 and there 
was no rubble or clay within the wall, but it was built 
throughout of large squared blocks, clamped together 
with iron and lead ; but it was only carried out to half 
the height of his original design. For he intended, by 
the height and thickness of the wall, to thwart the 
enemies' designs, and he thought a few of the least 
efficient soldiers would suffice to guard it, while the 
rest would embark upon the ships. For he concentrated 

1 Hdt. vi. 116. &c. ; Paus. 1. 1, 2. 2 1. 93- 2 - 

3 However we restore the lacuna in the text, this must be the meaning. 



5 2 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



his energies on the navy, having observed, I suppose, 
that the invasion of the Persian army was far easier in 
transport by sea than by land. And he considered the 
Piraeus more advantageous in position than the inland 
city ; and often advised the Athenians, if ever they were 
to be hard pressed by land, to transfer themselves to the 
harbour town, and to concentrate all their resistance in 
their navy." 

Before considering whether there are any extant 
remains of these walls of Themistocles, it will be best 
to take a brief survey of the later history of the forti- 
fications of Athens. His policy, which was ultimately 
taken up and extended by Pericles, was for a time 
discredited after his disgrace and exile, and the work 

done under Cimon pro- 
ceeded upon different 
lines. There is, however, 
a piece of wall in Athens 
which, though we have 
no record of its erection, 
must have been built in 
the time of Themistocles ; 
and this is the wall, still 
extant, along the north side of the Acropolis. This 
wall, unlike that on the east and south, follows the 
contours of the rock in a series of short stretches 
separated by angles, and there are built into it many 
columns, architraves, and other fragments of the build- 
ings destroyed by the Persians ; thus it offers a strik- 




Marble Drums. 
Buiit into the north wall of the Acropolis 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 



53 



ing analogy to the walls of the town which date from 
the time of Themistocles, and which Thucydides re- 
cords to have been built in part of previously wrought 
blocks ; the buildings from which these blocks were 
taken will claim our attention later. This general char- 
acter of the north wall of the Acropolis contrasts most 
strongly, both in its materials and in its plan, with the 




The Acropolis from the South, showing the Cimonian Wall. 
The row of arches below is the back of the Stoa of Eumenes. 

splendid wall of the south and east sides. This was 
erected by Cimon out of the spoils which he won from 
the Persians at the battle of the Eurymedon in 468 B.C., 
and is itself, both in conception and execution, among 
the most splendid monuments of Athens. Instead of 
following, like the Pelasgic wall and the later north 
wall, the irregular contours of the rock, it ran in three 
straight and unbroken sweeps from the north-east to 
the south-east corner, from the south-east corner to a 



54 ANCIENT ATHENS 

point south of the western end of the Parthenon, and 
thence again to the corner of the south-western bastion. 
To the splendid sweep of this wall is mainly due the 
symmetrical and regular plan that impresses any vis- 
itor to the Acropolis, and that forms so conspicuous a 
feature in the map of Athens. And it was not carried 
out without considerable engineering skill ; the rock 
falls away rapidly on the southern side, and the old 
Pelasgian fortification is a considerable distance within 
the Cimonian wall, which is built of sufficient height 
and thickness to bring the plateau on this side up to 
the level of the highest platform of the Acropolis, and 
to support the immense weight of the earth that had 
to be piled up within it for this purpose. This wall 
of Cimon was not, in fact, a fortification wall, but a 
terrace wall. For the purposes of defence the earlier 
line had sufficed ; but Cimon's object was to make the 
whole Acropolis a worthy centre of the city, itself a 
dedication to Athena, and for this purpose he gave it 
the broad and level platform and the symmetry of 
shape that still characterise it. On the north side 
he contented himself with finishing the wall of The- 
mistocles, raising the level of the ground some two 
or three feet, and building into it the staircase that 
descends to the grotto of Agraulos ; at the western 
entrance more extensive additions were necessary, if 
the approach was to be worthy of the enlarged pre- 
cinct to which it led. We have seen that there was 
a bastion projecting to the south of the entrance of 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 55 




Bastion and Temple of Nike, from below. 

the old Pelasgic fortification, and probably enclosing a 
shrine of Athena, the Giver of Victory. This bastion 
was enclosed in a rectangular projection uniform with 
the south wall, and a gate-house or propylaea was built 
to the north of it, of which some traces may still be 
seen beneath the more magnificent building of Peri- 
cles. This gate-house faced rather to the south-west ; 
one of the antae that enclosed it may still be seen 
outside the later propylaea on the south, and the 
line of its foundation may also be traced in the rock 
in the later gateway. The gate-house was set at an 
obtuse angle to the old. Pelasgian wall, of which a 
considerable portion had been left standing here, and 
formed the boundary of the precinct of Artemis 
Brauronia. This rough early wall was evidently 



56 ANCIENT ATHENS 

thought to be out of keeping with its new surround- 
ings ; and so it was faced with thin slabs of marble, 
and at its base were set steps of the same material, 
which returned to border the bastion on the south. 
Just outside the gate stood a tripod on a base. All 
these arrangements can still be clearly traced where 
they project to the south of the later propylaea. The 
date of the gate-house and its appurtenances has been 
disputed, and some authorities prefer to assign it to 
the time of Pisistratus ; 'but it does not seem appro- 
priate to the entrance of what was, in his days, still a 
fortress, and the material of the anta, steps, and casing 
of the Pelasgic wall, which is Pentelic marble, seems 
decisive against a sixth-century date. 

Themistocles had advised the Athenians to trust to 
the sea, and, if they were hard pressed, to transfer their 
city to the Piraeus. It was a brilliant adaptation of 
the spirit of this policy to build the famous Long Walls, 
connecting the city with its harbour town, and so to 
make Athens itself practically into a seaport. Pau- 
sanias attributes this design to Themistocles ; Plutarch 
informs us. that Cimon began the Long Walls, and him- 
self contributed to the heavy expense of laying founda- 
tions of shingle and heavy stones across the marsh ; 
but this must have been a lengthy undertaking, and 
the completion of the Long Walls as well as of the 
Wall of the Piraeus must be attributed to Pericles ; the 
whole system of fortification was a necessary condition 
of his policy. We learn indeed from Thucydides that 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 57 

the Long Walls were begun about 460 B.C., and finished 
about 458 ; and as these dates belong to the early days 
of the ascendency of Pericles, and fall between the ban- 
ishment of Cimon in 461 and his recall in 458, they pre- 
clude the possibility of Cimon's taking part in the work, 
unless we suppose that it had already been begun before 
461 b.c, but had not got beyond foundations, and that 
it was seriously taken up for completion in 460. In 
this year Socrates, then a boy of ten, may well have 
heard Pericles make the speech in favour of building 
the walls between 1 the city and the Piraeus, according 
to the story told by him in Plato's Gorgtas? 

The two Long Walls were known as the Piraic or 
northern and the Phaleric or southern ; they ran par- 
allel to one another for most of their length, and were 
550 feet apart. Considerable remains of both were 
seen by Leake ; but they have now almost entirely dis- 
appeared. At each end they diverged, to join advan- 
tageous points in the circuits of the city and of the 
Piraeus. A strange error as to the position of the Pha- 
leric wall is found in most modern topographies and 
maps of Athens, though not in Leake. This is the 
supposition that it ran to what is now called Old Pha- 
lerum at the eastern end of the Phaleric Bay, instead 
of to the corner of the Piraic promontory that encloses 

1 This meaning of to 5ia fxeaov Te?x°s is defended by Leake, and seems probable. 
The interpretation as " the middle or third wall " is that of some commentators on 
Plato; but Dio Chrysostom certainly uses the expression in the former sense, Or. 6. 
p. 87. See note on " the third Long Wall " at end of chapter. 

2 455 E. 



58 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the bay at its western end. The proof that the latter 
is the correct position of Phalerum is given in the 
chapter on the Piraeus; here it concerns us to notice 
that a wall connecting Athens with the east end of the 
Phaleric Bay would be perfectly useless as a defence, 
for with the Piraic wall it would form a triangle of which 
the base is the open sandy beach of the Phaleric Bay. 
This beach, as we have seen, offers easy landing, and 
was never protected in any way against invasion, so that 
an enemy, by a sudden descent, could at any time have 
established himself within the defences of the city. On 
the other hand, the whole circuit of the Piraic peninsula, 
though it is rocky and ill adapted for landing, was de- 
fended by a wall close to the sea, of which considerable 
remains may still be seen ; and so, if the two Long 
Walls reached from Athens to either end of its junction 
with the land, the circle of fortification would be com- 
plete and unassailable. The architect who built the 
Long Walls was Callicrates, the same man who designed 
the temple of Wingless Victory and assisted Ictinus in 
the construction of the Parthenon. 

With the completion of the walls of the city and the 
Piraeus, and the Long Walls to connect them, the forti- 
fications of Athens took the form which they retained 
all through the days of independent Greece; but not 
without being destroyed and rebuilt upon several occa- 
sions. The story is familiar how, after the fall of Athens 
at the close of the Peloponnesian War, Lysander caused 
the walls of the Piraeus and the Long Walls to be pulled 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 59 

down to the sound of the flute, while the Spartan allies 
kept high festival over what they called the beginning 
of freedom. The fortress of Munychia, however, which 
had been built by Hippias before the Piraeus was forti- 
fied, 1 was only partially dismantled; for Thrasybulus, 
after his bold descent from Phyle, seized and held it, 
until the expulsion of the Thirty Tyrants. The first 
thing Conon did, after his victory at Cnidus had restored 
Athens to something like her former state, was to re- 
build the Long Walls ; and later travellers, such as 
Pausanias, looked upon the remains they saw as the work 
of Conon, though the walls had undergone many vicissi- 
tudes in the meanwhile. We have many records, both 
in the works of historians and in inscriptions, of repairs 
or restorations of the walls — especially after the battle of 
Chaeronea, and again during the administration of Habron 
the son of Lycurgus. Demetrius Poliorcetes, during his 
occupation of Athens, demolished the fort on Munychia, 
and built one on the Museum Hill. When Philip V. of 
Macedon attacked Athens, in 200 B.C., Livy says that 
the Long Walls were in ruins; and Sulla built a good 
deal of what was left of them into the mound he raised 
against the city by the Dipylon Gate ; when he captured 
Athens he destroyed the city wall from the Sacred Gate 
to the Piraic. Calenus, Caesar's legate, found the Piraeus 
an unwalled town in 48 B.C.; and probably in later 
times the Long Walls as well as the walls of the Piraeus 
remained a memory only; they were useless when the 

1 Arist. Ath. Pol c. 38. 



6o 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



naval power of Athens was gone. The city walls, on 
the other hand, were renewed and even increased. 
Hadrian added a large new quarter, and there are 
records of fortification, now needful against barbarian 
inroads, under Valerian and Justinian. These probably 
followed the old lines. In the days of Frankish and 
Turkish rule the enclosure of the town was only a small 
oblong north of the Acropolis, as may be seen in old 




The Acropolis from the West. 
From Stuart's Antiquities of Athens. 

views of Athens ; its chief interest for us lies in the 
fact that its western edge followed and so preserved in 
part the Stoa of Attalus. The Acropolis was again 
made into a citadel; its walls were cased with masonry 
and supported with buttresses ; at its western approach 
a series of batteries and outworks were built which 
recall the arrangements of the primitive Pelasgicon or 
" Nine Gates " ; the Odeum of Herodes was included 
in the defences, and on the southern wing of the Pro- 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 61 

pylsea was built the Frankish tower which forms so con- 
spicuous a landmark in early pictures of the Acropolis. 
Last of all, in the War of Independence, Odysseus An- 
droutsos built the bastion over the Clepsydra, in order to 
secure a water supply for the defenders of the Acropolis. 
This bastion and the Frankish tower, as well as the 
later outworks at the western end of the Acropolis, have 
now been cleared away. Some of this destruction of 
more recent monuments, though less reprehensible in 
Athens than elsewhere, is to be regretted. But the 
modern authorities have been guided almost exclusively 
by the recollection of the glory of Athens in classical 
times, and have not unnaturally ignored the records of 
an age when she was but a provincial town, with little 
architectural character beyond what was bequeathed by 
"the splendour of her prime." 

This brief historical survey will suffice to prepare us 
for observing the actual remains of the walls of Athens, 
and to show us the period and character of the work 
which we must expect to find in various places. The 
circuit of the city itself never appears to have been com- 
pletely destroyed after it was once built by Themis- 
tocles ; but it was so often restored or repaired that we 
should not be surprised to find later works in any part 
of it. Vitruvius records that the sides facing Hymettus 
and Pentelicus were built of brick — probably unburnt 
brick ; and so in these portions we could not expect to 
find anything but foundations left, unless it belonged 
to Roman imperial times. Its line can be traced with 



62 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



tolerable certainty throughout, though in the part occu- 
pied by the modern town the records of isolated and 
often accidental discoveries have to be pieced together, 
and nothing of it can be seen, unless the digging of a 
large hole for the foundations for a house or for some 
other purpose has laid it bare. An exception exists in 
the Dipylon Gate and its immediate surroundings, 




The Dipylon Gate (above, to the Left). 
In front, the double line of later and earlier wall. 

which have been cleared by the systematic excavations 
of the Greek Archaeological Society. This was evi- 
dently regarded as the most vulnerable point of Athens. 
It was here that Philip V. of Macedon made his unsuc- 
cessful assault in 200 B.C., and that Sulla built the mound 
by which he captured the city. The foundations of 
the Dipylon Gate, and the lower part of the walls on 
either side of it, may now be seen, and give us a very 




.%%*ai£!f Polygonal walls, 5 t -"cent b.c. 

LATEK OKEEK WOR.K 
HO. AKfD riLLfNG-IM or WALLS. 



OOTER WALL 




mam i^wian p E *ioo. 







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I I 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 63 

fair notion of the defences of Athens. The gate itself, as 
its name implies, is a double one ; double in both senses, 
for it has an outer and an inner gate, separated by an 
enclosed court, and each of these gates is divided into 
two by a pillar in the middle. The value of the inter- 
vening court was shown when Philip V., having forced 
the outer gate, rashly rode into it at -the head of a body 
of cavalry; he found himself surrounded and under a 
cross fire, and only extricated himself with difficulty. 
The Dipylon was also the most frequented by traffic 
among the gates of Athens. It formed the boundary 
between the inner and outer Ceramicus, between the 
Agora and the Potters' Quarter, which still preserves 
its traditional industry owing to the unrivalled Attic 
clay, which is there found in the greatest abundance. 
In early times it was known as the Thriasian Gate, 
because it led to the Thriasian plain ; and the Sacred 
Way to Eleusis, which must also have been, then as 
now, the chief highway to the rest of Greece, ran 
through the Sacred Gate, which either was another 
name for the Dipylon, or else is to be identified as the 
smaller opening in the wall a little to the south — an 
opening which perhaps served only for the outflow of 
the Eridanus. 1 In any case the Sacred Way ran 
between the rows of sculptured tombs that now dis- 
tinguish the Ceramicus ; and the place was doubtless 
chosen for these, not only because the great procession 
of the mysteries passed every year, but also because 

1 See p. 17. 



64 ANCIENT ATHENS 

they would be seen by the majority of the wayfarers 
who approached Athens or departed from it, whether 
they travelled by land or by sea. For although the 
Dipylon was at some little distance from the Piraic Gate, 
which lay farther to the south, near to the modern 
Observatory, most travellers would probably prefer to 
keep to the level ground outside the walls, and to 
follow the route that is still taken, as the most conven- 
ient by the road and by the railway from Piraeus. Pau- 
sanias approached Athens in this way, and so begins his 
description of Athens at the Dipylon Gate ; and he 
doubtless followed the traditional route prescribed for 
visitors by the guides of his own day. Roads from the 
Dipylon also diverged to the Academy and to Phyle. 

The foundations of the line of wall in which the Dipy- 
lon Gate is set may well have formed part of the 
original wall as built by Themistocles, and some of the 
lower courses of the same date still remain ; during 
the excavations there were actually found, built into the 
wall, some early tombstones, which illustrate the state- 
ment of Thucydides that, in the haste of the building, 
"many tombstones and wrought blocks from earlier 
edifices were pressed into the service." On the hill 
that slopes up to the south, toward the Piraic Gate, 
though the foundations are early, the superstructure is 
of the most heterogeneous character; and so we are 
reminded of the fact that Sulla had razed this portion to 
the ground. Outside the main wall at this point was a 
second line of wall set about 20 feet in front of it, and 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 65 

constructed in a good period, perhaps the fourth cen- 
tury. The city wall can be traced from the Dipylon 
round the western heights, partly by the scanty traces 
of its foundations, partly by the natural conformation 
of the ground ; but the position of the gates in this 




The Sacred Gate. 
The arch behind marks the course of the Eridanus. 

region is for the most part conjectural. The Piraic 
Gate came next to the Sacred Gate, and was probably 
on the northern slope of the hill now crowned by the 
Observatory, and now sometimes called from an in- 
scription found on it the Hill of the Nymphs. Just 
outside it lay the Barathron, where the bodies of 
executed criminals were exposed. In the stretch of 
city wall between the ends of the two Long Walls, 
there are obvious places for two gates, one just south 
of the Observatory, another in the dip where the 
church of St. Demetrius Lombardaris now stands; 
one of the two must have been the Melitan Gate. 



66 ANCIENT ATHENS 

These two gates led into the area enclosed by the 
north-eastern portion of the Long Walls, before their 
parallel course toward the Piraeus ; or perhaps it would 
be more accurate to describe this space as an adjunct 
of the city, between the town and the Long Walls ; for 
we shall see that it was included in the city ward in 
the division implied by Thucydides. It was known as 
K01A.77, or "the Hollow," from the deep valley between the 
ridges that enclose it, and is remarkable for the con- 
siderable traces which it' still retains of rock-cut dwell- 




The Barathron. 
Above is the Observatory* 

ings, some of them primitive, but many of them, 
doubtless, still inhabited in historical times. Outside 
the Phaleric Wall, to the south, was the Itonian Gate, 
through which passed the ordinary road to Phalerum, 
and a little farther on the Gate mentioned in the 
Codrus inscription, 1 by which the Mystae went down 

1 CIA. iv. 53 a. 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 67 




The Arch of Hadrian. 
Behind, the Olympieum and Hymettus. 

to the sea in the Phaleric Bay. 1 About here the circuit 
of the city of Hadrian must have diverged from that of 
the walls of Themistocles. The line of the older wall 
can no longer be traced ; but the discovery of tombs 
below some of the streets of modern Athens shows that 
it must have lain considerably within Hadrian's Wall, 
of which traces may still be seen in the Palace Garden. 
The Gate of Hadrian, with its pompous inscription, 
distinguishing the city of Hadrian from the city of 
Theseus, probably marks the site of a gate in the 
earlier wall, leading out to the Olympieum and to Callir- 
rhoe. Farther along must have been the Gate of 

1 The exchange of the position of these two gates is a necessary corollary of the 
position now given to Phalerum. 



68 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Diochares, which we know to have been near the 
Lyceum, and the Diomean Gate, to the north-west of the 
city; and here also we must look for the gate, possibly 
identical with one of these twx>, by the fountain of 
Panops. The circuit of Hadrian's Wall, which included 
the Olympieum, must have had gates leading to Callir- 
rhoe and to the Stadium by the bridge across the 
Ilissus, as well as gates corresponding to those already 
mentioned in the earlier circuit. At the north of the 
city, leading into the pla'in just to the west of Lycabet- 
tus, was the Acharnian Gate, from w T hich several roads 
diverged ; and between this and the Dipylon was 
another gate which offered the most direct approach to 
Colonus and the Academy, though the customary walk 
to the latter appears to have been by way of the Dipylon. 
The northern limit to the town may be traced in this 
region by considerable remains of a wall of squared 
blocks, which have been found close to the modern 
Sophocles Street. It will be seen that the ancient city 
spread an almost equal distance from the Acropolis in 
all directions, unlike the modern town, which now 
occupies almost as great an area, but lies almost entirely 
to the north and east, leaving bare the whole of the 
region between the Acropolis and the sea. 

II a and b. Two Notes on Thucydides, II. ij. 6 

{a) The Third long Wall. — The existence of a third 
Long Wall, though rejected by Leake, is assumed by 
most recent topographers ; and so it is necessary to note 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 69 

the literary evidence on which the assumption rests. 
No remains of any third Long Wall exist now, or are 
recorded as ever having existed ; and the strategic neces- 
sity and probability of such a wall disappears, if the Pha- 
leric Wall be placed in its true position parallel to the 
Piraic, instead of being directed to the eastern side of 
the Phaleric Bay. 1 

The expression to Sua fxeaov re^os occurs in Plato, 
Gorgias 455 E, and has been interpreted both by Har- 
pocration and by modern writers as referring to the 
third wall ; but its most probable meaning, as Leake 
points out, is "the wall between city and port," the sense 
in which it is used by Dio Chrysostom, Or. 6. p. 87; it 
is indeed very doubtful Greek for " the middle wall " ; 
to fjLecrov Tei^o? would be both simple and clearer in this 
sense. Apart from this expression, the only evidence 2 
for a third wall is the passage of Thucydides, II. 13. 6, 
in which he makes Pericles speak of the walls which 
had to be held in defending Athens. " Of the Phaleric 
Wall there were 35 stades to the circuit of the city, and 
of the city circuit itself there were 43 to be guarded ; 
for the part between the Long Wall and the Phaleric 
Wall required no guard. And the Long Walls to the 
Piraeus were 40 stades, of which the outer face only was 
watched; and the whole enclosure of Piraeus and Mu- 
nychia was 60 stades, and half of this was guarded." 

1 See Angelopoulos' Ilept HeipaiQs. 

2 Leake rightly discounts Harpocration's quotation from Aristophanes about 
" three walls in Attica " ; there is no proof that Aristophanes here referred to 
the Long Walls. 



70 ANCIENT ATHENS 

At first sight this passage certainly appears to imply- 
that there were two Long Walls to the Piraeus, in addi- 
tion to the one to Phalerum. On the other hand, Thu- 
cydides himself, in another passage, 1 refers to two walls 
only, the Piraic and Phaleric ; Xenophon, 2 ^Eschines, 3 
Andocides, 4 and Livy 5 refer to two only ; and two only, 
the northern and southern, are mentioned in the inscrip- 
tion concerning the rebuilding of the Long Walls under 
Habron. 6 Moreover, the expressions aKeXrj and brachia, 
applied to them in Greek and Latin respectively, are 
suitable for two walls, but not for three. It follows that 
in Thucydides, II. 13, we must accept one of two expla- 
nations. Either there was, for a short time, an interven- 
ing wall close to the northern wall, possibly built after 
the others as an extra precaution, and never restored 
after the destruction of the Long Walls at the close of 
the Peloponnesian War; such a wall would easily be 
forgotten if its materials were used up w T hen Conon 
rebuilt the other two ; or else, as is more probable, the 
Piraic Wall, which was the more important and the 
more liable to attack, was a double wall, with a face 
on either side. This last supposition would fit the 
language of Thucydides completely ; for he sometimes 
speaks of the Piraic Long Wall (in the singular), some- 
times the Piraic Long Walls (in the plural), and in both 
cases opposes the Piraic to the Phaleric. And, if ^s- 
chines and Andocides are right in asserting that the 

1 I. 107. 3 II. 173, 174. 5 XXXI. 26. 8. 

2 Hell. II. 2. 15. 4 III. 4, 5, 7. 6 CIA. II. 167. 1. I20 sqq. 



WALLS OF THE ACROPOLIS AND THE TOWN 71 

northern wall was built several years before the south- 
ern, it would, if double, have been tenable alone as a 
means of communication in the interim. 

(6) On the Length of the Walls, as given hi Thucy eli- 
des, II 1 j. — If the figures given in this passage are right, 
it is impossible to reconcile them with extant remains and 
geographical conditions as recognised by modern topog- 
raphers. The circuit of the city wall is far too long ; on 
the other hand, the length of both the Piraic and Pha- 
leric Long Walls is too short. The length given for the 
circuit of Piraeus and Munychia is about right ; but, if 
only half of it required guarding, the Long Walls must 
have joined it much farther from each other than they 
are usually drawn ; they must, when they ceased to be 
parallel, have diverged broadly, to join either edge of 
the Piraic peninsula; and this demands a considerable 
increase in their length. 

The measures in stades given by Thucydides are : 
Phaleric Wall, 35 ; circuit of city (exclusive of space 
between Long Walls), 43 ; x Piraic Wall, 40; circuit of 
Piraeus and Munychia, total, 60; guarded, 30. The 
change required to reconcile these measurements with 
the facts is a simple one. Something has to be taken 
off the measure of the city circuit and added to that of 
the Long Walls. This is easily done if we imagine that 

1 The measurement of 60 stades, given by Aristodemus and others, is obviously a 
rough estimate, like the 30,000 spectators in the theatre. The scholiast's attempt to 
reconcile it with Thucydides' estimate of 43 by reckoning the unguarded part between 
the Long Walls at 1 7 is absurd. Even as measured on Curtius' map, this distance 
only amounts to 5 stades. 



72 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the limit of the city walls was taken, not, as is usually 
done, along the ridge of the Pnyx Hill, but farther 
toward the Piraeus, where the lines of the Long Walls 
begin to be parallel, and where a cross wall is marked 
in Curtius' map. Roughly measured, the circuit along 
the line of the old city wall amounts to only 28 stades ; 
but the additional piece thus added is about 15 stades, 
and so makes up the 43 given by Thucydides. And 
this extra 15, divided between the two Long Walls, 
allows them to diverge much more widely at the Piraeus 
end, and so to free the guard of about half the walls of 
the Piraeus. 

An explanation of the arrangement is also obvious. 
The circuit usually taken is doubtless the original line 
of the city wall. But we know that for military pur- 
poses Athens was divided, during the Peloponnesian 
War, into three wards, the City, the Long Walls, and 
the Piraeus. 1 It would be advisable to have the length 
of wall to be guarded in each approximately the same ; 
and this object would be gained by making the divi- 
sion as here suggested. The city, as the most con- 
venient, would be slightly the longest, for the two Long 
Walls, being so close to one another, would practically 
require only one garrison for the two ; and the Piraeus, 
though the part of its circuit requiring defence was 
shorter, was of an awkward shape, and so more exposed, 
as well as farther from the bulk of the citizens. 

1 Polyaenus, I, 40 ; cf. Andoc. de Myst. p. 23, Reiske. 



CHAPTER III 

THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 

The position of Athens, with its rocky hills at a 
convenient distance from the sea, was such as to 
attract settlers even before the traditional concentra- 




A Rock-cut House. 
Commonly called the Prison of Socrates. 

tion of the scattered townships of Attica which was 
commemorated in the festival of the Syncecia, and 
associated with the name »of Theseus. Some traces 
of these early settlements still remain. Amongst the 
earliest walls on the Acropolis and under its southern 

73 



74 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



slope there have been found fragments of rough pot- 
tery of a type that was prevalent throughout the 
coasts of the Mediterranean in prehistoric times, and 
that precedes in Greece what is known as the Myce- 
naean era. On the seaward slopes of the Pnyx Hill 
there exist a great number of cuttings in the rock, 




Koile, with Foundations of Houses and Steps. 

many of which probably go back to a very primitive 
time. They consist of the foundations of numerous 
houses, mostly of one room only, with terraces, steps, 
and often storehouses or cisterns ; these last, as well 
as some of the chambers, are cut in the solid rock, 
and suggest subterranean dwellings. Curtius, who 
first studied these remains, regarded them as the 



THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 75 

rock city (Kpavda 770X19) of the early Athenians. This 
view is doubtless correct in the main; but the settle- 
ment on the Acropolis was probably at least as early, 
and the Rock City was never quite deserted. It was 
not far from the hollow between Pnyx and Acropolis, 
always a centre of civic life ; and at the time of the 




Koile, with Rock-cut Foundations. 
View toward Acropolis. 

Peloponnesian War, when the people of Attica crowded 
within the fortifications, this quarter must again have 
been thickly inhabited; we have already noticed that 
it was probably included within the city ward. 

There are also considerable remains of the Mycenaean 
epoch on the Acropolis, contemporary with the so-called 
Pelasgian walls. Not only has a good deal of Myce- 



76 ANCIENT ATHENS 

naean pottery and other antiquities been discovered, 
partly scattered over the site, partly in tombs or houses, 
but walls and chambers of houses of the same age are 
also to be seen in many places on the Acropolis. For 
the most part these do not give any consistent or 
intelligible plan, but there is one notable exception. 
Underneath the early temple of Athena, immediately 
to the south of the Erechtheum, there have been 
found some indications that in themselves appear in- 
significant enough, but are very significant if we com- 
pare them with precisely similar remains that have 
been found at Tiryns, Mycenae, and elsewhere. The 
evidence here consists of two square stone bases cut 
round at the top so as to fit the shafts of wooden 
columns, and certain traces of walls which combine 
with the bases to indicate the plan of the hall of a 
palace of the Mycenaean age. It can hardly be an 
accident that this hall occupies almost exactly the 
same position as the cella of the early temple of 
Athena that was built over it. We are reminded by 
the coincidence of two passages in Homer: the one 
in which it is said that Athena went to Athens, after 
appearing to Odysseus, 

Swe 8' 'JZpexOrjos ttvkivov hopov — Od. vii. 8 1, 

and the other that tells us how Athena took Erech- 
theus when born from the Earth, 

Kao o ev Aurjvrjs etcrev €o> cvi 7novi vryw 
evOa Se pav ravpoicri kcu dpveiots IXdovraL 
Kovpoi AOrjvatoiv 7repLTc\Xoixe^<x)v Ivtavroiv. — //. ii. 549* 



THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 77 

From Homer it would appear that the two buildings 
were identical, the well-built house of Erechtheus, and 
the temple of Athena in which she established him and 
his worship. For Athena goes to the house of Erech- 
theus as her favourite abode, just as Aphrodite goes to 
her temple at Paphos. The relation of the temple of 
Athena to the palace of Erechtheus becomes clearer in 
the light of the extant remains. The house of Erech- 
theus was originally just like any other house of the 
same period in Greece, and can hardly have been any- 
thing else than the palace of the early kings of Athens, 
placed in the best position on their citadel, like the 
palaces of Mycenae and Tiryns. This palace doubtless 
had, like all others, its altar of Zeus- c/ E^/ceto9 in the court, 
and its Hestia in the hall ; and these were the centres of 
worship for the king and his household, and so for the 
state generally, in primitive times, just as in later times 
civic worship centred in the Tholus and the Prytaneum 
in the Agora. It is, however, unusual to find the temple 
of the chief deity identical with such a centre of civic 
institutions, and there is some difference of opinion 
whether this was the case in Athens. On the one hand 
we have the Homeric passages, and the unusual coinci- 
dence of position between the palace and the early tem- 
ple ; on the other hand the sacred objects associated with 
the most primitive religious cults of Athens, the olive 
tree of Athena, and the "Sea" or salt spring of Posi- 
don, together with the trident marks from which it rose, 
are situated to the north of the palace, within or close to 



78 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the present Erechtheum ; and therefore it has been 
maintained with some reason that the earliest and most 
sacred shrine on the Acropolis must have been here. 
There really is not enough evidence to decide the point ; 
no trace has been found of any earlier temple on the site 
of the Erechtheum ; and so it is possible that the olive 
and the salt spring may merely have been enclosed in a 
sacred precinct north of the old palace and temple. 
The peculiar relation of the temple to the early palace 
may, if so, find its explanation in the legendary hislory 
of the kings of Athens ; not only Erechtheus, but 
Theseus and Codrus also enjoyed almost divine hon- 
ours after their death ; and so the palace associated 
with them might appropriately be transformed into a 
temple. 

However this may be, the remains of the temple, 
though only foundations, suffice to show its plan. It 
was divided into two parts : a cella facing east, divided 
by two rows of internal columns into a nave and aisles, 
and with a pronaos in front of it ; and a curious and 
unique arrangement at the west. Through the opistho- 
domus one entered a large rectangular chamber, and 
from the back of this opened two smaller chambers, 
which • divided between them the whole breadth of the 
temple. The foundations of this structure consist en- 
tirely of pieces of rock quarried from the Acropolis 
itself, and are evidently very early — how early it is im- 
possible to say. They were surrounded by a peristyle 
of which also the foundations only remain ; these are 



THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 79 

formed of limestone from the quarries of Kara" at the 
foot of Hymettus, a material commonly used in the time 
of Pisistratus and practically unknown at other periods. 
The sculpture that once filled the pediments over this 




Foundation of Peristyle of Old Temple, on the Right. 

Above it, Parthenon on right, Erechtheum on left. In front, on left, wall of Acropolis ; 

on right, Mycenaean houses. 

peristyle has now been partially recovered, and its style 
points clearly to the same date. There can hardly be a 
doubt that this building was the chief temple of Athena 
from the time when it was built until the Persian Wars. 
We know but little of its history during this time, 
though we hear now and then of the temple of Athena. 
Perhaps the most interesting references are to the visit 
of Cleomenes, the Spartan king, and the tale how the 
priestess of Athena forbade him to approach her temple, 
which no Dorian might enter, and to the tragic end of 
Cylon's conspiracy, when his followers, despairing of 
mercy, fastened a rope to the early image, in the vain 



80 ANCIENT ATHENS* 

hope that its sanctity would protect them as they left 
the Acropolis. The official title of the temple in the 
time before the Persian Wars was the Hecatompedon (or 
hundred-foot temple), a title w r hich, though not of a 
primitive appearance, was so far consecrated by tradi- 
tion that it was later transferred to the cella of the Par- 
thenon, together with the measurement from which its 
name was derived. This measurement of one hundred 
Attic feet is approximately the length of the temple 
before the peristyle was added, and so the name must 
have been given to it in its earliest state. The inscrip- 
tion which records the name dates from a time shortly 
before the Persian wars ; it is also valuable as giving 
some indication of the use of the peculiar arrangements 
in the plan of the temple. It is ordered that the state 
treasurers are to open the chambers (ot/c^/xara) in the 
Hecatompedon ; and this may imply that the western 
compartment of the temple, together with the chambers 
opening out of it, were used as a treasury. The indica- 
tion is chiefly important for the later history of the tem- 
ple, and for its relation to the other buildings — the 
Parthenon and the Erechtheum — that superseded it 
either wholly or in part. For a theory has been main- 
tained by Professor Dorpfeld, that these chambers not 
only were a treasury in early times, but were rebuilt after 
their destruction by the Persians, and served as a treas- 
ury in later times also; while Professor . Furtwangler 
believes that they were not originally built as treasuries, 
but that the peculiar division of the western part of the 



THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 81 

early temple served the same purposes of religious ritual 
as were served by the similar division of the later Erech- 
theum. So far as the time before the Persian wars is 
concerned, there is hardly enough evidence to decide 
this controversy. 

As to the appearance of the Mycenaean palace on the 
Acropolis, we can only judge from the similar buildings 
that have been found at Mycenae, Tiryns, and else- 
where ; nor have we much more evidence as to the 
architectural features of the early temple in the first stage 
of its existence. There are indeed many remains of 
architecture and of sculpture of an early date that have 
been found on the Acropolis ; but it is not easy to 
identify any of them with certainty as belonging to this 
temple, nor indeed is it very probable that any of them 
do belong to it ; for almost all its architectural features 
must have been destroyed when the peristyle was added, 
probably fifty years or so before the fragments found 
on the Acropolis were buried. 

The appearance of the temple after the peristyle 
had been added by Pisistratus may be realised with a 
fair degree of certainty, considering that it has been 
destroyed to the foundations. For the capitals and 
drums of columns, and the portions of architrave, frieze, 
and cornice built into the northern wall of the Acropolis 
have been identified by Professor Dorpfeld as belonging 
to this building, and by their help he has made a resto- 
ration which may claim to be more than conjectural. 
Some figures from its pediments have been recovered 



82 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and pieced together, and may now be seen in the 
Acropolis Museum. The colonnade was of the Doric 
order, with six columns at each end and twelve on each 
side ; the form of the capitals is such as one would expect 
in the latter part of the sixth century, being intermedi- 
ate between the bulging, rather clumsy shape of an 
earlier period and the refined profile of the fifth century. 
We must, of course, imagine the rough Piraic lime- 
stone of which the building consists as covered with 
stucco, and all its mouldings enlivened by brilliant 
colours, mostly blue or red ; the metopes and cornice 
were of Parian marble ; and this more precious material 
was not hidden by a complete coat of colour, though 
the decorative patterns or other designs painted on it 
enhanced the beauty of its texture. The metopes 
probably contained mythological scenes, though no trace 
of their paintings has survived ; but the pediments 
were filled with sculpture in the round in Parian 
marble, and of these several figures have been recovered. 
The subject of one of these pediments was the 
battle of the Gods and Giants — a favourite subject 
for such composition in early times. Scenes from 
a similar combat had already figured in some of the 
early pedimental groups in Piraic limestone that were 
found on the Acropolis — notably the one which con- 
tained the three-bodied Typhon and his mate, Echidna. 
In groups of the gigantomachy Athena is usually a promi- 
nent figure, but the place of honour, in the front of the 
combatants, or, by an easily understood convention, in the 



THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 83 

centre of a pediment, is usually occupied by Zeus. It 
was a bold innovation, and characteristic of his age and 
place, for the Athenian artist to give this place cf honour 
to Athena herself; and the fact is symbolical of the 
history of Athenian religion. In the age of Pisis- 
tratus there was a tendency throughout Greece to 
organise local cults and festivals and myths into a 
Panhellenic system ; and at Athens this tendency 
was associated with a more or less conscious attempt 
to glorify the goddess of the city and her worship, 
and to give her the most prominent place in the 
Greek pantheon. Of course she was usually repre- 
sented as occupying this position as the vice-regent of 
her father Zeus ; but in this pediment she actually 
seems to usurp his place. The extant fragments 
have not as yet sufficed for the reconstruction of any 
other of the divine combatants ; but of their opponents, 
the giants, two other prostrate figures have been put 
together, in addition to the one who lies at the feet 
of Athena. 

Though this early temple of Athena was doubtless 
the chief temple on the Acropolis before the Persian 
wars, it cannot be supposed that there were no others. 
It is, as we have seen, a doubtful matter whether there 
was another early temple on the site later occupied by 
the Erechtheum ; certainly no clear traces of any such 
temple remain ; nor are there any early walls or foun- 
dations elsewhere on the Acropolis that indicate the 
position of any other shrines. The absence of such 



84 ANCIENT ATHENS 

evidence is the more remarkable, since it is known that 
some of the sites on the Acropolis were sacred from 
immemorial tradition. Yet, even in a precinct of such 
ancient sanctity as that of Artemis Brauronia, no traces 
of a temple have been found, though the rock is, over 
most of its surface, exposed. We must suppose either 
that such temples as existed were so roughly built that 
the rock was not levelled for their foundations, or else 
that there were merely open precincts or altars, but no 
temples, in these primitive shrines. On the highest 
part of the Acropolis there remains a considerable ex- 
tent of rock in its natural state, surrounded by levelled 
spaces ; on one side this rough platform is bordered by 
an early piece of wall, on other sides it is scarped and 
faced by a later wall. It has been conjectured with 
probability that this rough piece of rock served as the 
great altar of Athena, at which the hecatombs were 
offered annually at the Panathenaic festival. There is 
little else, either in the way of walls or of rock cuttings, 
that can be assigned with certainty to this early period, 
if we except certain cisterns, drains, and foundations of 
chambers near the north-west corner of the Acropolis, 
beside the Propylaea. This absence of foundations is 
the more remarkable, since the foundations of the fifth- 
century buildings, and the earth used to terrace up the 
Acropolis after the Persian wars, are full of fragments 
of architecture and sculpture that must have come from 
temples of the sixth century. Some of these fragments 
may have been brought from elsewhere to help in filling 



THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 85 

up the terrace, just as in later days a certain number of 
tombstones, which could not originally have been set 
up on the Acropolis, were carried up there, mostly for 
building purposes. But it can hardly be doubted that 
the majority of the early fragments belonged to the 
temples that stood on the Acropolis in the sixth century, 




Great Altar of Rock on the Left. On the Right, North-east Corner 

of Parthenon. 

and were destroyed by the Persians when they sacked 
the city in 480 B.C.; for the sculptured compositions 
recovered from them are in many cases nearly complete, 
far more so than would have been at all probable if 
they had formed part of a miscellaneous mass of rubble 
brought up from below. 

The early history of Attic art, as recorded by these 



86 ANCIENT ATHENS 

products of recent excavation on the Acropolis, is 
considered in another chapter; here we are more 
concerned to notice the character of the buildings from 
which they came, so far as it affected the general 
appearance of the Acropolis in the sixth century. 
Most of the buildings must have been small shrines or 
temples, built of rough Piraic limestone and coated 
with stucco; the sculptures were mostly of the same 
material ; nearly all of them come from pedimental 
groups in higher or lower relief. It is a curious fact 
that almost all of them represent exploits of Heracles : 
one shows his fight with the Lernaean Hydra ; two 
others his wrestling with the Old Man of the Sea, a 
favourite subject in early art, though not recognised as 
one of the canonical " Twelve Labours." In another 
pediment, which shows in one of its ends Echidna, in 
the other the three-bodied Typhon, we have a scene 
which, though not properly belonging to the gigantoma- 
chy, is closely akin to it. And in representations of 
gigantomachy, Heracles always takes his place among 
the gods; it is therefore probable that he appeared also 
on the pediment over the colonnade built by Pisistratus 
round the early temple of Athena. This prominence of 
Heracles in early monuments at Athens came as a sur- 
prise to archaeologists ; we had been used to think of 
the hero as especially Doric, and in the later democracy 
his place was almost usurped by Theseus. But we must 
remember that Heracles is said to have been regarded as 
a god by the early Athenians, and that he had an impor- 

























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THE ACROPOLIS BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 87 

tant early temple in the quarter Melite. His presence 
in the groups ornamenting so many of the early shrines 
of Athens need not of course imply that all or even any 
of them were dedicated to him ; but it certainly does 
show that he and his deeds must have loomed much 
larger in early Athenian mythology than we should 
have guessed from literary sources of information. 
The same inference may be drawn from the frequency 
with which he occurs on early Attic vases. 

Among these smaller shrines the great temple of 
Athena must have stood out conspicuously even in its 
earlier state ; when it was surrounded by a colonnade and 
adorned with marble pediments, in the time of Pisistra- 
tus, it must have altogether eclipsed its surroundings, 
and have offered some promise of the splendour that 
was to supersede it in the next century. Such was the 
general appearance of the Acropolis when it was taken 
and burnt by the Persians ; and the destruction of all 
these early temples, greater and smaller alike, was not 
only a gain to archaeology, but even contributed in no 
small degree to the actual advance of Attic art. Had 
all these structures survived into the age of Pericles, 
religious conservatism might well have opposed their 
destruction, even for such temples as the Parthenon and 
the Erechtheum to rise above their ruins. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 

We have already noticed the hill of the Pnyx and 
the. Acropolis as centres of early settlements at Athens ; 
but there is no doubt that the Acropolis, at least, soon 
became a sacred citadel, suitable perhaps for the 
residence of a primitive king and his retainers, but 
incapable of housing any large body of citizens. With 
the growth of political feeling, the centre of civic 
life was transferred to the agora, and the dwellings 
of the people must have clustered round it, though, 
until the lower town was provided with a wall of 
defence, the inhabitants must still have taken refuge 
in the Acropolis during times of danger. Thucydides 
says that in this early time the city consisted, of the 
Acropolis and the region to the south of it ; that is to 
say, the more or less level space that lies in front of 
the two theatres, and stretches toward the valley of 
the Ilissus. This statement, though accepted by 
Curtius and other topographers, and made the basis 
of their reconstruction of the early town of Athens, 
has met with much criticism, especially since it does 
not tally with the results of recent excavations. Thu- 
cydides himself seems to regard it as a necessary infer- 

88 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 89 

ence from the position of certain early temples, but the 
whole passage has been the subject of controversy ; 
and it therefore seems better to relegate its discussion 
till later, 1 rather than to take it as the starting-point 
for a description of the lower town. Perhaps it is too 
much to hope that we can attain any certain knowledge 
of the topography of the lower town before the great 
change associated with the name of Theseus, and cele- 
brated in the festival of the Syncecia. Before that 
change, Athens was presumably only one of several 
small townships in Attica. The recognition of Athens 
as the city, and the concentration there of all political 
and religious organisation, must have led to a con- 
siderable increase in the sacred and public buildings, 
and even in the town itself, though it is not, of course, 
to be supposed that either then or later, until the time 
of the Peloponnesian War, the majority of the popu- 
lation of Attica flocked to Athens. We cannot identify 
with- certainty any of the monuments of the lower town 
as belonging to the time before the Syncecism ; and a 
topographical order is the only one which it is practical 
to follow in tracing the architectural history of the town 
of Athens before the Persian Wars. 

The Acropolis was surrounded in early times by 
various districts, 2 each of which probably had a sepa- 
rate village settlement of its own ; the names of some 

1 See note IV. a. at the end of the chapter. 

2 In the placing of the city denies I have followed Curtius, who gives the view 
generally accepted, though by no means free from dispute. In most cases there 
really is not enough definite evidence to lead to a certain decision. 



90 ANCIENT ATHENS 

of these early villages are preserved in the later names 
of the city denies. In front of the western gate of 
the Acropolis lies the valley between it and the Pnyx 
hill ; and this is connected by the low saddle between 
Pnyx and Areopagus with the broad stretch of level 
ground which reaches to the Theseum. This region 
belonged in later times to the deme Melite ; the name 
has a Phoenician look, which has naturally been empha- 
sised by those who, like Curtius, believe in a Phoeni- 
cian settlement and Phoenician influence in early 
Athens ; but it must be admitted that recent investiga- 
tions have lent little or no support to this theory; 
and the name Melite itself may just as well be derived 
from the honey for which the neighbouring mountain 
of Hymettus was famous in classical times ; the wild 
thyme that still gives this honey its characteristic 
flavour grows just as freely on all the Attic hills. To 
the north and north-west of the Theseum lay the lowest 
ground around Athens, with the rich deposit of red 
clay that gave it the name of " the Potters' Field " 
(Ceramicus), and that was later to make Attic pottery 
the most famous in the world for the beauty of its 
material as well as the skill of its manufacture. The 
deme of Collytos, stretching from the north side of 
the Acropolis right up to the slope of Lycabettus, 
probably represents another early village, which re- 
tained into historical times some of its old local festivals, 
such as the Country Dionysia, 1 though it contained 

1 kv tois tear dypoi/s AiovvcrioLS Kw/mufduv 6vtwv ev KoMvry. — ^Lschin. I. 157* 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



9i 



the most populous and fashionable part of the city; 
but in ancient times the houses never spread so far in 
this direction as they have in modern times ; the old 
town always surrounded the Acropolis, instead of 
reaching away, as the modern town does, into the plain 
to the north. Between the Acropolis and the Ilissus, 
on the south-east, is the region which Thucydides and 































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Lycabettus from the Acropolis. 
Pentelicus behind. 



Professor Curtius believed to have been the earliest 
centre of civic life. In confirmation of this opinion 
is the probable situation in this locality of the deme 
KvSolOtjvouov ; beyond the Ilissus lies the suburb of Agrae, 
famous for the celebration of the Lesser Mysteries ; and 
to the west, in the hollow to the south-west of the Pnyx 
and sloping away to the sea, is the region of K01A.77. A 
brief study of the actual remains of early date that may 



92 ANCIENT ATHENS 

still be seen in these various districts must precede any 
attempt to reconstruct the early town. 

There are traces of a certain number of early shrines 
nestling close under the rock of the Acropolis, or situ- 
ated in natural caves beneath it. Just to the north of 
the western entrance is the Clepsydra, which we have 
already noticed both in considering the walls * and the 
water supply. 2 The precipitous cliffs that lie to the 
north-east of this point were known as the MaKpal or 
Long Rocks, and contained two caves, dedicated to 
the worship of Apollo and of Pan. That of Apollo is 
celebrated in Euripides' Ion as the place where Apollo 
met Creusa, and where she later exposed the child that 
she bore to the god ; the cave of Pan was first dedicated 
to him after the battle of Marathon, in consequence of 
his apparition to the runner Phidippides on Mt. Arte- 
misium, and the " Panic " terror that he cast over the 
Persian army. An altar of Pan is also mentioned by 
Euripides. Some doubt existed as to the exact position 
of these caves until recently, chiefly because the whole 
region was deeply buried beneath the rubbish shot from 
the Acropolis during the earlier excavations, but this 
was cleared away by M. Cavvadias in 1897 with the most 
satisfactory results. 8 

Immediately above the Clepsydra is a shallow cave, 
which used to be identified as the cave of Apollo ; but 
it contains no votive niches or other indications of dedi- 
cation, is extremely difficult of access, and must always 

1 See p. 61. 2 See pp. 23-24. 3 See 'E</>. 'Apx- 1897. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



93 



have been open and visible, so as to be unsuitable for 
the tale told of the cave of Apollo. This may, then, be 
dismissed from consideration. A little farther to the 
east, separated from this cave by a projecting buttress 
of rock, is a roughly 
levelled platform of 
rock, on which sev- 
eral caves open. The 
first of these, count- 
ing from the west, 
is a shallow recess 
in the rock, filled 
with niches to hold 
inscribed tablets or 
other dedications, 
and similar niches 
are also to be seen 
on the face of rock 
to the east of this 
cave. In the debris 
outside were found 
several inscriptions or portions of inscriptions, all of 
them dedications of Roman period to Apollo e T7roa- 
/cyoato?, 'Two v A/cyocus, or e T7ro MaAcpatg ; * these were on 
tablets which have evidently been fixed in the niches 
prepared in the rock. At the back of the rock platform 
is a second cave, a little deeper, and extending partly 




Cave of Apollo. 
With niches for votive tablets. 



1 It is singular that nearly all the tablets found in the recent excavations have 
virb MaKpais, which did not occur in those found earlier. 



94 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



underneath the wall of the Acropolis, but quite open ; 
this cave has no signs of dedication about it. The 
projecting mass that bounds the platform on the east 
is pierced by two caves, of a different character from 
those we have hitherto noticed ; they penetrate deeper 
into the hill, and have narrow entrances partly blocked 
by natural pillars of rock, so that they offer complete 

seclusion, though 
but narrow space 
within. Such caves 
as this are obviously 
more adapted to the 
tale of Apollo and 
Creusa, which must 
be located in the 
cave of Apollo ; and 
the cave of Pan must 
have been of a simi- 
lar character, since 
Aristophanes 1 men- 
tions it as a place 
where seclusion and 
privacy could be 
found. And, moreover, such a cave suits the notion, 
common to literature and art, of Pan seated in his hole, 
and piping to the nymphs who dance before him. There 
can be little doubt, then, that we must recognise in this 
hollow rock the Havbs OaKTJfxaTa /ecu Trapavki^ovcra irirpa 

1 Lysistr. 911. 




Cave of Pan. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 95 

fxvxtoSecn MaKpals. M. Cavvadias suggests that this 
cave of Pan was identical with the earlier cave of 
Apollo, and that it was assigned to Pan after the 
worship of Apollo had been transferred to the open 
cave with the niches ; perhaps it is more probable 
that one of the two communicating caves to the 
east of the platform was sacred to Apollo, one to 
Pan ; in any case they suited legend better than 
ritual; dedications and sacrifices took place in the 
open recesses of the MaKpal, where the foundations of 
an altar have actually been found. There is also a 
pit which M. Cavvadias proposes to identify as the 
tomb of Erechtheus, but any such identification must 
be regarded as highly conjectural ; the only evidence 
that the tomb of Erechtheus in a ^cur^a yOovos was 
close to the MaKpal is in the same passage of the Ion 
already quoted, which is far from being convincing. 1 

However this may be, the associations of the shrine of 
Apollo are most interesting, not only from its place in 
Attic ritual and mythology, but also because it has been 
quoted as evidence in one of the most difficult and con- 
troversial problems in Athenian topography. The worship 
of Apollo Patrous, as the father of Ion and so the com- 
mon ancestor of the whole Ionian race, belonged especially 
to the spot. The great national festival of the Ionic 
race, in which the Athenians were officially represented, 

1 After mentioning the tomb of Erechtheus, Ion adds, MaKpal 5e x^pos ear e/ce? 
KeKk-ruxivos; 'E/cei here may mean merely "at Athens," and if so, the evidence for the 
tomb of Erechtheus near the MaKpal disappears. 



96 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and later took the predominant part, was held at Delos ; 
and so we might naturally have expected that the Delian 
Apollo would be especially associated with the birth- 
place of his son Ion. This, however, is not the case. 
The Apollo Patrous who is especially worshipped at 
Athens is always, in historical times, the Pythian 
Apollo ; Demosthenes expressly says that the Pythian 
Apollo is Patrous to the Athenians; and Theophrastus' 
Fussy Man (Mi/c^o^tXort/xog) takes his boy to Delphi to 
make the due offering to 'Apollo Patrous when he is 
grown up. Of the Ma/cpai and their shrines Ion says 
expressly Tifjua cn£e UvOlos aaTpairai re Tlu^tat, and it is 
difficult to explain the last half of this line except as a 
reference to the altar of Zeus 'Ao-Tpaircuos, from which 
at certain seasons men watched for the lightning over 
Harma, in the direction of Delphi, in order to give the 
signal for the despatch of the sacred embassy from 
Athens to the Pythian sanctuary. Whether the Pythian 
connection of the cult of Apollo beneath the Long 
Rocks was original or not we have no certain evidence ; 
it may be tempting to refer it to the religions reforms 
of Epimenides or to the influence of the Alcmaeonidas 
at Delphi ; but any such theory must be regarded as a 
mere conjecture, and cannot be made the basis for 
any further inferences. In the time of Pisistratus, as 
we shall see, the cult of the Pythian Apollo was officially 
established in the Pythium near the Ilissus. 1 

1 Whether this shrine of Apollo vtr 'A^pcas was ever called Pythium is a difficult 
question, discussed in the note at the end of this chapter, p. 145. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



97 



To the west of the caves of Apollo and of Pan is a 
projecting corner of the Acropolis cliff, containing in 
its western face the entrance of the lon£ cleft which 
communicates with the top of the enclosure within 
the walls. This cleft has already been noticed as the 
probable route of the Persians in their escalade of the 
Acropolis. 1 Above its western entrance is a flight of 
steps, of which the lower end is now walled up just 
within the Acropolis wall. The sanctuary of Agraulos 
is in the northern face of the rock, just beyond the 
projecting corner; it is identified from the statements 
of Herodotus and Pausanias that it was close to the 
place where the Persians mounted. Probably the 
cave that is visible at this point belonged to the 
shrine. It was here 
that the young 
men of Athens 
took their oath on 
being admitted to 
the ranks of the 
Ephebi, and close 
to it was the An- 
akeion or temple 
of the Dioscuri. 
Farther along are 
more recesses and niches cut in the rock, but there is 
nothing more on the northern or eastern face of the 
Acropolis that offers any topographical indications. The 

1 See Chapter II. p. 47. 




Pit of Sacrifice in Asclepieum. 
Temple behind. 



H 



98 ANCIENT ATHENS 

aspect of the eastern end of the southern side of the 
rock has been completely transformed since the time of 
the Persian Wars by the curved scarping for the upper 
part of the Great Theatre. The Asclepieum to the 
west of this is also an institution of later date, but it 
probably took the place of an earlier sacred spring 
which had its own traditions, and probably its own 
shrine of healing before the worship of Asclepius was 
introduced into Athens. With it must probably be asso- 
ciated an early pit of sacrifice with polygonal masonry. 
Beside the spring it was said that Halirrhothius, the 
son of Poseidon, had done violence to Alcippe, daughter 
of Ares ; and Ares, having slain Halirrhothius, stood 
his trial on the Areopagus. Several remains of enclos- 
ures, of a period before the Persian Wars, seem to 
show that there was a sacred precinct in this region. 
A little farther along is a cistern of fine polygonal 
masonry and remains of early walls ; but the western 
end of the south side of the Acropolis is as com- 
pletely altered by the Stoa of Eumenes and the Odeum 
of Herodes as the eastern end is by the Theatre of 
Dionysus, and so it is useless to look for any early 
buildings in this region. 

The bold mass of rock that forms the Areopagus 
stands up on the right as one descends from the 
Acropolis, and rises in a steep cliff; on the farther 
side it slopes gently toward the Pnyx. That its exist- 
ence was to some extent a menace to the Acropolis 
as a fortress is recognised in the tale of the Amazons, 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 99 

who established themselves here when they attacked 
Theseus ; but the word avreirvpycocrav, used by yEschy- 
lus in this context, is not probably to be taken as re- 
ferring to any traces or tradition of a fortification of 
the Areopagus ; its natural strength suffices, especially 
on the side toward the Acropolis, which is inaccessible 
but for a narrow flight of steps cut in the rock. Herodo- 




POLYGONAL WALLS OF ClSTERN. 
Near Asclepieum. 

tus tells us that it was also occupied by the Persians 
when attacking the defenders of the Acropolis. The 
chief interest of the hill is, however, religious rather 
than military. There are various traditions about the 
origin of the name, which ancient authors all associ- 
ate with the name of Ares. The commonest version 
states that Ares was tried there after the murder of 
Halirrhothius ; ^schylus rejects this version and pre- 
serves the solemnity of the trial of Orestes as the proto- 

L.ofC. 



ioo ANCIENT ATHENS 

type of all murder trials by saying that the Amazons 
sacrificed to Ares, and so the name arose. There was 
a temple of Ares situated near it, probably near its north- 
ern slope. It also contained an altar of Athena Areia, 
said to have been dedicated by Orestes ; and there seems 
no sufficient reason for giving up the traditional inter- 
pretation, Mars' Hill, and substituting, as is suggested 
by some modern mythologists, Hill of Curses (ApaC). 1 
The top of the hill was in early times the seat of the 
famous Court of Areopagus, but little is left to show 
the arrangements. There is a roughly levelled platform 
and some cuttings in the rock ; but it is impossible to 
identify with certainty even the Stone of Violence 
or the Stone of Ruthlessness (XlOos "Tfipecos, XlOos 
'A^cuSetas), on which the accused and the accuser took 
their stand at a trial for manslaughter. 

At the end toward the Acropolis is a deep cleft, 
between the hill itself and a high piece of rock that has 
broken off from it. This is the place that must be 
identified as the shrine of the Holy Ones, the ^e/x^al, as 
the Athenians called them, where they took up their 
abode, as y£schylus tells in the Eumenides, when 
Athena had appeased their wrath at the homicide's 
escape. It may be doubted whether the cleft remains 
as in ancient time, or the piece of rock has fallen since 
and engulfed the altars and the rest of the sanctuary. 
But in any case we may probably trace a connection 
such as that insisted upon by ^Eschylus between the 

1 See Frazer, Paus. II. 363. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 103 

august court upon the hill, which claimed to be the first 
established in the world for the judgment of homicide, 
and the " wild justice " of revenge and blood feud which 
it superseded, and which was represented by the Erinyes 
in the cleft below. Close by the shrine of the Semnae 
was the Cylonion, erected, probably, when the city was 
purified by Epimenides, on the spot where the followers 
of the rash pretender had been massacred, vainly trusting 
in the rope that connected them with their sanctuary in 
the Old Temple of Athena on the Acropolis. 

After the Acropolis itself, the most conspicuous monu- 
ment of pre-Persian Athens is the Pnyx. It lies just 
beyond the Areopagus, and appears just above it 
in the view from the Propylaea. In the slope of the 
hill facing the Acropolis is a scarped face of rock, not 
straight, but consisting of two equal portions meeting 
at an obtuse angle ; and where they meet is a square 
block, like an altar, approached by steps, all cut in the 
living rock. Below the scarp is a semicircular area, 
retained at its outer edge by a wall of huge blocks, partly 
squared, partly polygonal. At either side, where the 
ends of this semicircular retaining wall abut against the 
face of rock, they are considerably higher than the foot 
of the square block; but in the middle several of the 
upper courses have given way, and consequently the 
area retained by the wall now slopes downward from 
the face of rock. If, however, we imagine the retaining 
wall of the same height throughout the whole semicircle, 
we must restore the area which it contained as sloping 



104 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



down from the circumference toward the centre, like a 
rather shallow theatre. Such a form would be admirably 
adapted for a place of popular assembly, and there can 
be little doubt that it is rightly identified as the Pnyx, 
though, like almost all other matters in Athenian topo- 
graphy, the identification has been disputed. Curtius 




The Pnyx, from the Areopagus. 
Salamis behind. 

sees in it merely a place of sacrifice with a rock-cut altar 
in the midst, and, to confirm his view, quotes certain 
dedications to Zeus "Txjjlo-tos found in the immediate 
neighbourhood. But in that case the massive support- 
ing wall would be superfluous ; no one is likely to have 
taken the trouble to terrace up this great semicircular 
area merely to accommodate those assisting at a sacrifice. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 105 

It seems far more probable that this structure is the 
Pnyx, the earliest place in which a democratic assem- 
bly of citizens was ever held. It would be interest- 
ing if we could date with any degree of precision the 
time when it was made. The style of the masonry does 
not give any certain clue ; the great size of the blocks at 




Bema and Rock-cut Wall of Pnyx. 



first sight suggests a very early date ; the largest blocks 
are about 9 ft. 6 by 7 ft. 6 in the face, and 6 feet in 
depth. But this massive construction was necessitated 
by the weight of earth which the wall had to support ; 
the beds are horizontal, and many of the joints are verti- 
cal, and the general nature of the construction suggests 
the sixth or even the fifth century rather than any pre- 
historic epoch; the age either of Solon or of Clisthenes 



106 ANCIENT ATHENS 

would suit well enough, and so great a work, undertaken 
for such a purpose, must most naturally be associated 
with some chief epoch in the approach to democracy. It 
may well be that the scarped rock and the square altar 
in the midst of it go back to an earlier age, and may 
even have served, as Curtius suggests, for the altar of 
Zeus c/ Ti//ioto5. There is nothing repugnant to Greek 
notions in mounting an altar to address the crowd, espe- 
cially when we remember that the meeting of the 
Ecclesia was a sacred function, inheriting even such 
primitive regulations as the necessity for dismissing the 
people if a drop of rain fell. 1 If the square block is the 
famous Bema (6 kiOos 6 eV rrj ttvkvl, as Aristophanes calls 
it^), from which the orators of Athens addressed the 
people, it is impossible to give a literal interpretation to 
Plutarch's statement 3 that the Bema had originally faced 
the sea, and that the Thirty Tyrants turned it so as to 
face the land. It is, however, extremely difficult to 
explain this passage in any case ; for the orators must 
have faced their audience, and the change referred to 
would imply a reconstruction of the whole of the Pnyx. 
Most probably Plutarch has misunderstood his authority 
and given a literal meaning to what was originally a 
purely metaphorical statement, that the Thirty, reverting 
to the tradition of the earlier tyrants, turned the eyes of 
the leaders of Athenian policy away from the sea, of 
which the command had been the chief object of the 
Athenian democracy since the days of Themistocles. 

1 Ar. Ach. 169. 2 Ar. Pax, 680. 3 Themist. 19. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 107 

It is true that there is an oblong terrace of lev- 
elled rock above the scarped face, which would hold a 
considerable number of people, and toward which an 
orator on the Bema would look if he faced seaward ; 
but the sea could never have been visible either from 
the Bema or from the levelled area near it, especially 
when the city wall was standing along the ridge of the 
hill; Aristophanes' line 1 about Cleon, d-rro rcov -rrerpcov 
avotidev tovs <f>6pov<; 6wvocrK07ra)v cannot refer to the 
actual view from the place of assembly, though the hill 
just above it would make an excellent post of observa- 
tion. In another passage in the same play 2 the sausage- 
seller upbraids Cleon for having left the Demos to be 
content with a hard seat on the rocks, and offers a 
cushion to give him more comfort. If pressed in its 
literal signification, this expression might seem to imply 
rock-cut seats ; but there can be no question of anything 
of the sort if the Pnyx is rightly identified ; and so we 
must probably interpret al irerpai as applying to the 
whole rocky region — the hill from which Cleon also 
looked out for the tribute ships — rather than as de- 
scribing the actual seats themselves. How the semi- 
circular area was seated we cannot say ; but the passage 
in Aristophanes shows, in the first place, that the people 
did sit down, and in the second place, that they can 
hardly have had wooden benches. 

The valley between the Acropolis, the Pnyx, and the 
Areopagus is much better known to us than any other 

1 Eg. 312. 2 1. 783, eirl ralai irerpais . . . aKXrjpws <re Kadrinevov ovtus. 



108 ANCIENT ATHENS 

district of early Athens, thanks to the systematic excava- 
tions that have been made there by Professor Dorpfeld. 
The main object of these excavations was to settle, if 
possible, the disputed points of Athenian topography 
that depend on the position of the fountain Enneacrunus. 
They have, as was hoped, brought to light a most in- 
teresting series of waterworks, including rock cuttings 
to collect the scanty supply of spring water from the 
hill of the Pnyx, many wells in the lower and more level 
ground, a series of larger and smaller drains, of various 
periods, and, above all, the end of an aqueduct which 
must be assigned to the time of Pisistratus. 1 But, in 
addition to all this, they have laid bare what must have 
been one of the most thickly populated regions of the 
town, with its streets, houses, sacred precincts, and 
temples. 

The chief road found in these excavations leads 
through the depression between the Pnyx and the Are- 
opagus, and extends for about 250 yards in a southerly 
direction, just to the east of the modern road and 
nearly parallel to it. Then roads branch off from it to 
the south and east ; but the main track takes a broad 
sweep to the west, and begins to mount the steep ascent 
of the Acropolis almost on the line of the modern zig- 
zag road, after sending off another branch following the 
line of the modern road along the south side of the 
Acropolis. Just opposite the gate of the Acropolis a 
foot-path branches off, leading directly up the hill, and 

1 See Chapter I. Note a, Water Supply. 




_) 


6- 
C3 


o 




cu 




o 





tf . 




u & 




< 1 


8- 


fc £ 


<u 


o *J 




- T3 


«** k 


w 

rpfel 




:o 


u 


fc ° 


7) 




o g 


o- 


»-* rt 




H 




< 





> 




< 


■ 


u 




X 


o-l 


U) 





THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



109 



cutting off the zigzags of the road. The road is 
bordered on both sides by early walls, some polygonal, 
some built of more or less squared blocks. Whether 
these are the walls of houses or merely enclosures for 
precincts or other open spaces, they are all evidently of 
early date in their lower courses, though many of them 
form the foundations for a superstructure of later period. 
There can be no doubt, then, that we here see one of 
the chief streets 
of ancient Athens 
during all periods 
of its history, and 
the main approach 
to the Acropolis 
from the regions 
to the north of 
the Areopagus — 
at least for driv- 
ing ; foot passen- 
gers may well 
have preferred the shorter route between the Areopagus 
and the Acropolis. To our notion, the street seems 
very narrow ; its average width must have been the same 
at all periods, about twelve to fifteen feet, and may 
probably be taken as typical of such parts of an ancient 
city as had not been laid out in a sumptuous manner 
with broad streets and ample spaces. We have to 
remember that driving or riding in the streets of the 
town by private individuals was very unusual, probably 




Excavations West of Acropolis. 

Looking along road. Precinct and wine-press on left, 

houses on right. 



no ANCIENT ATHENS 

unknown except when a man was starting on a journey. 
It is true that such narrow streets offer little room for 
the passage of a great procession such as that of the 
Panathenaea, or the gallop of the knights from the 
Hermae in the Agora to the Eleusinium. 1 Spectacular 
effects and the presence of any considerable number of 
spectators would have to be restricted to the more open 
parts of the route, if this road was the one along which 
they passed. 

In the angle between this street and the southern side 
of the Areopagus is a triangular enclosure, bordered on 
one side by the main street, on the other two by branch 
roads that communicate with the street. This enclosure 
is surrounded by an early wall, and was clear of houses. 
In the apex of the triangle, which faced to the south, was 
a partition, shutting off a small temple which was prob- 
ably entered from the south. The rest of the triangle was 
open, but for an altar in its midst and a wine-press in its 
north-western corner, both of which deserve careful atten- 
tion. The altar was of the shape of a table, carried on four 
legs, for which the sockets can still be seen in the basis, 
which is the only portion that survives. In this basis 
are also grooves for receiving two stelae. The wine- 
press shows traces of several successive reconstructions, 
with its floor at different levels, and it also has a large 
vessel sunk into the ground to receive the must as it 
flowed from the treading of the grapes. The wine-press 
and the peculiar form of the altar suggest that the 

1 Xen. Hipparch. III. 2. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



in 




temple and precinct were dedicated to Dionysus, an 
inference confirmed by the fact that in Roman times, 
after the original shrine had been buried and forgotten, 
a hall was built over part of its site for the sacred feasts 
of the Iobacchi, a religious club that may have preserved 
the tradition of the early ritual. A precinct that oc- 
cupies a central position in a populous quarter of the 
city challenges identification; and Professor Dorpfeld 
confidently claims 
that he has found 
the long - sought 
Dionysium in the 
Marshes, which he 
was also inclined 
to identify with 
the Lenaeum, the 
" place of the wine- 
press," 1 quoting 
the wine-press still 
to be seen in the 
corner of the precinct. He has, however, seen reason 
to give up this latter identification, tempting as it is. 
The Lenaeum cannot well be identical with the Diony- 
sium in the Marshes, which was open only on one day 
in the year, in the month of Anthesterion ; for the 
Lenaea, the 'Ay<k> iwl Atjvol'mx), was celebrated at the 
Lenaeum in the month of Gamelion; and, moreover, there 







£^Nw*&* 







Early Precinct of Dionysus. 

Later house in front; hall of Iobacchi above; behind 

it, Areopagus. 



1 I give the customary explanation, though there is much force in Mr. J. R. 
Farwell's argument that Arjvaiov must come from Xrjvai, not Xrjvds. Classical Review. 



ii2 ANCIENT ATHENS 

would be no room in so small a precinct for the crowd 
which would gather to attend this popular festival and 
to see the theatrical performances that accompanied it. 
Above all, we know from an inscription 1 that the festival 
of the Lenaea was still celebrated as late as 192 a.d., 
when this early precinct was buried and the Hall of 
the Iobacchi built above its ruins. With the Dionysium 
in the Marshes the case is not so simple. The only clue 
that we possess as to the position of this temple, apart 
from its title, is the much-disputed passage in Thu- 
cydides II. 15 ; 2 and though I hold, in common with 
the majority of interpreters, that the argument of Thu- 
cydides is stultified, unless the temples mentioned in -this 
passage lie to the south of the Acropolis, Professor Dorp- 
feld and those who hold with him upon this question do 
not' admit the inference. As to the situation of the 
quarter named the Marshes (Ai/x^cu), it is notoriously 
dangerous to argue about the names of natural features 
when retained in the middle of a town, 3 and I think it 
would be wiser to leave this consideration out of the 
question. But, if it is to be brought in, I think it is 
easier to suppose that a marsh existed between the 
theatre and the Ilissus, where we know there was a 
great ditch, presumably for drainage, and containing 
mud worth carrying away, than on the arid watershed 

1 CIA. III. 1 160, quoted by Frazer, V. 498. 

2 See Note IV a. 

3 The case of Market Hill in Cambridge, which is absolutely level, and in the 
middle of a flat region, is a good example. No topographer who went by names 
would admit its identification. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 113 

between the Acropolis and the Pnyx. 1 The argument 
in favour of the precinct being the Dionysium in the 
Marshes, apart from the topographical question, amounts 
to little more than this — that it is evidently a very early 
shrine of Dionysus, and that Thucydides says the temple 
in the Marshes was the one in which the earlier Dionysia 
were celebrated ; such an argument, though good as far 
as it goes, is evidently insufficient in itself, for there were 
probably many early precincts of Dionysus in Athens, 
belonging to the various early settlements ; there must, 
for example, have been one in Kollytos, where the coun- 
try Dionysia were celebrated ; 2 why should not this have 
been a corresponding local shrine in Melite ? It seems 
extremely improbable that a sacred precinct of such im- 
portance as that of Dionysus in the Marshes, where the 
most primitive and most solemn festival of the Anthes- 
teria was held, — a festival that was essential to the 
state religion, and in which the Queen, the wife of the 
magistrate called the King, took the most prominent 
part, 3 — should have been forgotten and buried before 
the second century of our era. 

1 The Hero Calamites, who used to come into this argument as near the Le- 
naeum, disappears from the controversy, if the identity of Lenteum and Dionysium 
in the Marshes is given up. 2 Dem. de Cor. 180; yEschin. I. 157. 

3 The stela with the oath the fiaaikivva administered to the yepapai, which was 
set up beside the altar of the Dionysium in the Marshes, has been associated with the 
sockets for a stela found on the altar in this precinct. But such things are common 
enough. There is more in the suggestion that the Iobaccheia, which the yepapai 
promise to perform duly, were perpetuated in the rites of the Iobacchi on the same 
spot. The two, however, cannot be identical; for the one is a state ceremony, the 
other a private one : and, moreover, the Iobaccheia are not among the festivals which 
the Iobacchi celebrate, and of which we have a complete list. It seems, then, that 
this is no more than an accidental coincidence. 



ii 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

On the other side of the main road, opposite the 
triangular precinct, was a quaint little shrine, temple 
and altar and precinct all complete, yet all contained 
within an area of about twenty-five feet by fifteen — the 
temple itself a mere rectangular cell, some 6 feet by 5. 
There is no clue as to the deity to whom the shrine 
was dedicated ; very likely such small precincts were 
set aside in many of the streets of an ancient town, just 
as one sees small shrines beside the road, both in town 
and country, anywhere in southern Europe, at the 
present day. The little precinct was buried and for- 
gotten before the fourth century, when a club-house 
was built over it. 

Of the houses of this early period little can be said, 
for nothing is left but the lower courses of their outer 
walls. Farther along the road, opposite the foot-path 
leading up to the Acropolis, there are no remains of 
early houses between the road and the Pnyx hill ; 
indeed, there appears to have been a fairly extensive 
open space here, estimated by Professor Dorpfeld at 
about 40 metres by 20 (130 ft. by 65 ft). Here was the 
well-house at the end of the aqueduct, constructed in all 
probability by Pisistratus 1 ; some stones have actually 
been found with water channels cut in them, and others 
with sockets in which to rest the pitchers as they were 
being filled. This comparatively spacious place must 
have been the centre of civic life in this district, situated 
as it was by the fountain, and immediately below the 

1 See Chapter I a. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 115 

entrance to the Acropolis ; and with the streets, houses, 
and temples that surround it, it enables us for the 
first time to realise in imagination what one of the 
most populous districts of ancient Athens must have 
looked like in the time before the Persian Wars. 
Opposite the open space, in the corner between the 
main road and the path to the Acropolis, lay another 
sacred precinct. In later times this was dedicated to 
Asclepius and Amynos ; but if, as we have seen in the 
case of the better-known Asclepieum, the worship of 
Asclepius was not introduced into Athens until 420 B.C., 
we must suppose that he was adopted later to share an 
early shrine of healing dedicated to the Attic hero, 
Amynos. Little is left of early date except the sur- 
rounding walls of the precinct, and perhaps a small 
chapel of Amynos ; the propylaea at the corner and all 
the dedications belong to the later history of the precinct. 
Beyond this precinct, in the loop between the road 
and the beginning of the ascent to the Acropolis, 
nothing has been found except some graves of Myce- 
naean period or slightly later. There is little even of 
negative evidence, for there is so shallow an accumula- 
tion of earth above the native rock that it is not to be 
expected that much would survive. There are indeed 
no foundations of houses ; but there are no foundations 
of temples either, nor have any traces been found of the 
dedications which could hardly have failed to have left 
some fragments behind them, if this had been an 
important sanctuary. The facts are the more dis- 



n6 ANCIENT ATHENS 

appointing as this is the place which Professor Dorp- 
feld assigns to the Eleusinium below the Acropolis ; 
and if we could assert with confidence either that it 
was here or that it could not have been here, we 
should have valuable evidence either to corroborate or 
to disprove his system of Athenian topography. As it 
is, the position of the Eleusinium must still be regarded 
as uncertain ; it depends entirely upon general con- 
siderations of topography such as we are not at present 
concerned with. 1 

To the north of the Acropolis, where the town of 
mediaeval and modern Athens is situated, there are 
practically no ancient remains except of Hellenistic 
and Roman date. In view of the extreme cost and 
difficulty of excavations in this region, we shall prob- 
ably have to be content for some time to come with 
such inferences as the conformation of the ground 
and the allusions in ancient authors will allow in any 
attempt to realise what buildings and what quarters 
of the early Greek city occupied this region. It is 
not until we come to the south-east of the Acropolis 
that we find any monuments of early date ; here, above 
the valley of the Ilissus, is a collection of early temples 
and sacred objects to which especial honour was 
given by the Tyrants, but which, some of them at 
least, must preserve the traditions of an earlier age. 
Chief among them is the Olympieum, a building which 
ranked among the seven wonders of the world, and of 

1 See discussion below, Note XIII a. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



117 




The Olympieum and Stadium from the Acropolis. 
Above, Hymettus. 

which we know the architectural history from literary 
sources with an exceptional amount of completeness 
and certainty. But at present we are not concerned 
with its later glories, nor with the erection of the 
huge columns that are still among the most conspicu- 
ous monuments of modern Athens. Before Pisis- 
tratus began the great temple that was to remain 
unfinished until the time of Hadrian, there must have 
been some earlier building on this spot. Mr. Pen- 
rose's excavations in 1885 showed, underneath the 
foundations of Pisistratus' work, other walls at a 
slightly different angle, which he assigns to the earlier 
temple traditionally said to have been built by Deu- 
calion. Here also was a smaller precinct dedicated 



n8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

to Ge Olympia, and in this was shown the cleft by 
which the waters of Deucalion's flood were said to 
have been swallowed ; it was about eighteen inches 
wide, and every year cakes of wheaten meal kneaded 
with honey were thrown into it. The tomb of Deu- 
calion was to be seen in the neighbourhood. All 
these things have a primitive character, and it can 
hardly be doubted that there was in this region from 
the earliest times a collection of sacred objects, in- 
cluding some that are natural in origin. It is, however, 
probable enough that the name Olympieum and the 
epithet " Olympian," attached to both Zeus and Earth, 
are a later modification. Such a change would well 
accord with the Panhellenic tendencies of Pisistratus 
and his contemporaries, and the consequent organisa- 
tion of Greek religion and general recognition of the 
Olympian cult. There was also a temple of Cronos 
and Rhea, which may belong to the same age. How- 
ever this may be, the temple of Olympian Zeus, as 
begun by Pisistratus, was on a most magnificent scale. 
Although its plan cannot be completely recovered, the 
remains of its walls and pavement show that it had 
an orientation slightly different from that of the later 
temple, and that the cella was, by Mr. Penrose's esti- 
mate, 116 feet long and 50 feet wide — considerably 
larger than that of the Parthenon. It was of the 
Doric order, and the immense size of its columns 
may be judged from the unfluted drums belonging 
to it that have been used as a foundation for the 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 119 

present Corinthian columns or built into other struc- 
tures in the neighbourhood. One of these is not less 
than 7 feet 10 inches in diameter; 1 it is made of 
Piraic limestone. It is impossible to judge how 
far toward completion the building had advanced 
before the expulsion of the Tyrants put an end to its 
progress ; but it remained all through the great age 
of Athens in an unfinished state. Perhaps, just as the 
blackened ruins of the temples sacked by the Persians 
were left to perpetuate resentment and to incite ven- 
geance, so the monumental record of this ambitious 
. and abortive scheme was intended to serve as a warn- 
ing against the presumption of tyrants ; but to it, as 
well as to the later temple begun on the same site in 
Hellenistic times, might be applied the words of Livy, 
" Unum in terris inchoatum pro magnitudine dei." 

The Pythium, which lay close to the Olympieum 
beside the Ilissus, is also said to have been built by 
Pisistratus. Its exact position is not known, but several 
inscriptions once set up in it have been found by the 
river, just to the south-west of the Olympieum, and so 
this is generally recognised as its probable situation. 
The honour paid to it by the Tyrants is attested by 
the inscription, on an altar, quoted by Thucydides, 2 
which has actually been found on this spot : — 

1 Penrose, J.H.S. VIII. 273. Those of the Parthenon are about 6 feet 3 
inches at the bottom ; those of the temple of Zeus at Olympia (the largest extant 
Greek columns known), 7 feet 3 inches. 

2 Curiously enough, Thucydides says dfivdpoTs ypd^ixatn, while the inscription is 
now. perfectly clear ; the explanation may be that the colour originally put in the 
letters had faded. 



120 ANCIENT ATHENS 

fxvrjfia rdS 77s a/o^s UetataTpaTO<i 'linriov vlos 

OrJKCV A7ToAA<DVOS TLvOiOV €V T€/JL€V£L. 

This Pisistratus is the grandson of the Tyrant. There 
is not here, as in the case of the Olympieum, any evi- 
dence that the temple built by Pisistratus was on the 
site of an older sanctuary. 

Just below the Olympieum the bed of the Ilissus is 
crossed by a shelf of rock, over which the river forms a 
cascade when it is in flood ; and in the shelf of rock is 
a spring, now scanty, but never dry, which is tradition- 
ally identified as the famous Callirrhoe ; the modern 
usage goes back at least to the time of Wheler; and 
his testimony in this matter is the more valuable, be- 
cause he realised the difficulty of explaining the route 
of Pausanias, and even inclined to explain the name as 
a mere coincidence. Whether this is the same Callir- 
rhoe that was furnished with an ornamental fountain by 
the Tyrants, and then called Enneacrunus, is a difficult 
and disputed question, and is discussed elsewhere. 1 But 
here we may notice its proximity to the buildings which 
we know to have been begun by Pisistratus, and the 
consequent probability of his having built a fountain 
here, as well as the aqueduct that led to the space in 
front of the gates of the Acropolis. 

Just across the river was the suburb of Agrae, famous 
for the celebration of the Lesser Mysteries. Whether 
these mysteries existed before the adoption of Eleusis 
and its rites into the cycle of Athenian state religion is 

1 See la. pp. 18-21, and also Note XIII a (Pausanias). 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



121 



a doubtful matter ; but after that adoption, the Lesser 
Mysteries at Agrae had to be attended in the spring, as 
a necessary qualification before proceeding to the first 
stage of initiation at Eleusis the following autumn. 
They must have been held in a temple of Demeter in 
this region, to be distinguished from the Eleusinia below 




Stadium (before Recent Restoration), and Modern Bridge over Ilissus. 

the Acropolis. A little farther on was the Stadium, 
where the Panathenaic games were held ; this was orig- 
inally a natural valley, and we have no information as 
to when it received its present shape; but it is hardly 
rash to conjecture that Pisistratus, who added greatly to 
the prestige of the Panathenaea, and raised them to an 
almost Panhellenic importance, must have provided 



122 ANCIENT ATHENS 

them with a stadium corresponding to their pretensions, 
if the one already existing at Athens had not yet been 
altered from its primitive simplicity. 

Another temple that must be assigned to the time 
before the Persian Wars, and probably to Pisistratus, is 
that of Dionysus, just below the theatre — not, of course, 
the larger one, of which the conglomerate foundations 
are conspicuous, but the smaller one, of which only a 
corner now remains, encroaching on the step of the long 
portico that backs the scene of Lycurgus. This corner, 
however, shows the characteristic material, Kara stone, 
which, so far as we know, was only used in the age of 
Pisistratus ; and the character of the work and the 
clamps used also suit the sixth century. This must be 
the temple of Dionysus Eleuthereus, in which his early 
wooden image was housed, and from which it was taken 
on its annual journey to the Academy and back. Tra- 
dition said that the statue was brought from Eleutherae 
on the borders of Attica and Bceotia, to Athens by a 
certain Pegasus, whose action was approved by the 
Delphic oracle ; we know nothing further of this mat- 
ter, but it is generally regarded as part of the general 
concentration of the chief Attic cults in Athens itself. 
Close to the temple there exist, beneath the later stage 
buildings, the remains of a circle of very primitive 
structure, partly of Acropolis rock, partly of the soft 
sandstone that underlies it. This circle was first recog- 
nised by Professor Dorpfeld as the primitive orchestra 
or dancing place, where the dances took place in honour 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 123 

of Dionysus. To judge from the material, it probably 
goes back to a very early time ; possibly it was an early 
threshing-floor utilised for the purpose ; such threshing- 
floors suggest orchestras at the present day, when one 
sees them near a Greek town or village ; and we know 
that at Delphi the place where the sacred drama of the 
fight of Apollo and the Python was periodically per- 
formed was called the threshing-floor. Choric dances 
in honour of Dionysus are of course far earlier than the 
dramatic performances which, to some extent, but never 
entirely, superseded them. The earliest dramatic per- 
formances in Athens are said to have been given, not 
here, but in the Agora or the Lenaeum. This temple 
of Dionysus Eleuthereus cannot be identical with the 
temple of Dionysus in the Marshes ; for the latter was 
open only one day in the year, at the Anthesteria, 1 while 
the Theatre of Dionysus and the precinct to which it is 
attached must have been open at least at the great 
Dionysia, and later, also, whenever there was a public 
assembly in the Theatre. And, moreover, Thucydides' 
intention, when he mentions among the early temples 
to the south of the Acropolis the Dionysium in the 
Marshes, defining it as the one where they celebrate 
the more primitive Dionysia in the month Anthesterion, 
can only be to distinguish it from the more familiar pre- 
cinct below the Theatre. As to the exact position of 
the Dionysium in the Marshes we have no further clue ; 

1 Dem. LIX, 76 : airai; yap rod iviavrov enaarov avolyerat,, rrj SvwSe/cdrT? rov 

' Avd€<TT7]piQvOS /X7)VOS. 



i2 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

there are, as we have seen, serious objections to identi- 
fying it with the precinct recently discovered by Pro- 
fessor Dorpfeld below the Areopagus. It has been 
thought that the third important temple of Dionysus in 
Athens, the Lenaeum, or " Place of the Wine-press," 
may have been identical with either or both of the other 
two. But there is really no reason to doubt its inde- 
pendent existence ; the title of the festival held there, 
6 em Aiqvaio) ayojv, seems to imply that it was a separate 
precinct. The Lenaeum is of peculiar interest for the 
period preceding the Persian Wars ; for it was at the 
festival of the Lenaea that dramatic performances were 
first introduced, and it is generally supposed that the 
Great, or City Dionysia, 1 which were held in later times 
in the theatre above the precinct of Dionysus Eleu- 
thereus, and at which most of the plays we possess were 
first performed, were not instituted until after the Per- 
sian Wars. 2 It would be very interesting if we could 
identify with any degree of probability the place where 
the earliest dramas were performed ; but there is no 
clue to the exact position of the Lenaeum, unless we 
attempt to reconcile the two alternative statements 
already quoted, that the first plays were performed 
either in the Agora or the Lenaeum, by the supposition 
that the Lenaeum was in or near the Agora. The 
explanations given by lexicographers of the proverb, 
an aiyeCpov 0ea, tell of a scaffolding with seats, built 
for the dramatic performances before the theatre was 

1 To, (jLey&Xa or tcl iv daret. 2 See Miiller, Biihnenaltertumer, p. 310. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 125 

made, and reaching to a poplar whence the most dis- 
tant spectators could see ; and such a poplar is said to 
have existed in the Agora. However, even if this 
hypothesis be granted, we should not have gained 
much until we had ascertained where the early Agora 
was, and this is another most difficult problem. In 
the whole question of these various Dionysia, the 
views here given appear to be the most probable infer- 
ences from the existing data ; but it must be admitted 
that these data are inadequate, and to some extent con- 
tradictory, and that new discoveries may necessitate a 
revision of some of the conclusions. 

After this survey of the buildings earlier than the 
Persian Wars of which we can either ascertain or con- 
jecture the situation, we must return to the more general 
question from which we started, and ask what, in all 
probability, were the general characteristics of the 
town, and where was the chief centre of civic life. 

It is probable, as we have seen, that the various 
villages around the Acropolis had each its own local 
shrines and even, perhaps, its local market-place. But 
after the concentration had taken place, there must 
have been an Agora and a set of public buildings 
recognised as belonging, not to one town alone, but to 
all the citizens scattered throughout Attica. The 
religious centre remained in the Acropolis ; but the 
centre of civic life and civic worship in a Greek city, 
as soon as it leaves the palace of the king, usually 
centres about the hearth of the state ; and this is repre- 



126 ANCIENT ATHENS 

sented by the Tholus, where the Prytanes sacrificed, 
and the Prytaneum, or centre of official life. We 
know approximately where these buildings were in 
later times ; the Prytaneum was not far from the sanc- 
tuary of Aglauros, below the north slope of the Acropo- 
lis, and the Tholus was near the upper end of the Agora. 
The two are not likely to have been far from one 
another. 1 The Tholus in any case was the place where 
the hospitality of the city was dispensed. Beside it 
was the Buleuterium or Senate-house. So long as the 
Tholus and Prytaneum were in this position, we must 
imagine the Agora also as lying to the north of the 
Areopagus and to the north-west of the Acropolis. 
Indeed, Professor Curtius, who places the earliest 
Agora to the south of the Acropolis, has to place the 
earliest Prytaneum there also. But such a shifting of 
the pivots of public and official life is in the highest 
degree improbable ; nor does the statement of Thu- 
cydides justify the assumption. Thucydides, it is true, 
says that the earliest city so far as it lay outside the 
Acropolis, lay mainly to the south; but it is the posi- 
tion of early temples, not of early municipal buildings, 
that he quotes in support of the statement ; nor could 
he have failed to quote evidence so convincing, if he 
had had any knowledge of an earlier Prytaneum to the 
south of the Acropolis. The common Prytaneum and 
Buleuterium, of which Thucydides attributes the foun- 

1 When the Scholiast, in Ar. Pax, 1153, says they were side by side, he probably 
confuses Prytaneum and Buleuterium. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 127 

dation to Theseus, are evidently those which continued 
to exist throughout historical times in Athens. Before 
the time of Theseus, who had come to be regarded by 
the Athenians as the champion and founder of the 
democracy, there is perhaps no need to look for public 
buildings other than the palace of the king and the 
temples of the gods. We may, then, assert with some 
confidence that the earliest civic life of Athens, and 
with it the Agora, must have lain to the north-west of 
the Acropolis ; but it is by no means so easy to deter- 
mine the exact position and extent of the Agora at this 
or at any time in the history of the town. We should 
naturally expect it to be a more or less level area, lying 
between the Dipylon Gate and the Acropolis. Pro- 
cessions starting from the Dipylon doubtless came to 
it; but whether they passed through it to the upper 
end, or circled round it and then went out the way 
they came and on by another route, is by no means 
certain. 1 A space that suits the required conditions 
may be found in the depression that lies to the east 
of the Theseum, and to the north of the gap between 
the Areopagus and the Acropolis ; and this has the 
advantage of not being too far away from the Pryta- 
„ neum. An alternative view is, that the Agora was not 
so much an open square as a continuous market street, 
which stretched away from near the Theseum to just 
below the Pnyx. As most of our evidence about the 
Agora belongs to the succeeding periods, we must 

1 See p. 133. 



128 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



leave most of these questions for the present ; but there 
is one, perhaps the most decisive of all, with which we 
are now concerned. After the expulsion of the Tyrants, 
the Athenians set up statues to Harmodius and Aristo- 
giton, who had slain Hipparchus, as the representative 
heroes of the new freedom. It is true that the statues 




Site of Agora from Acropolis. 

Pnyx, Areopagus, Theseum. Beyond them, olive groves beside Cephisus. Above, 

^Egaleos and Pass of Daphne. 

were taken away by Xerxes ; but they were replaced by 
other statues, and the original ones also were restored 
at a later date. Probably the place assigned to these 
statues, which was reserved for them alone, was the 
same from the first ; and we are told by Arrian that it 
was beside the ascent to the Acropolis, and opposite the 




The Tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogiton. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 131 

Metroum, which we know to have adjoined the Buleu- 
terium. They were therefore at the upper or southern 
end of the Agora ; and if we could decide what is 
meant by the ascent to the Acropolis, we should know 
approximately where this end, at least, of the Agora 
must be placed. Earlier topographers, taking the ascent 
to mean the immediate approach to the Propylaea, placed 
the statues of the Tyrannicides just below this. But it 
is incredible that the Agora can have extended to the 
south of the Areopagus : it would in that case lose 
all unity and character, and be quite unsuited to its 
purpose. We are therefore reduced to two alternatives : 
the ascent to the Acropolis at the upper end of the 
Agora must either mean the rather steep way up to the 
saddle between the Areopagus and the Acropolis, or 
the gentler acclivity between the Areopagus and the 
Pnyx. The former position seems more probable, for 
various reasons. In the first place I do not think the 
words, fj avifiev es ttoXiv, " the way by which we ascend to 
the Acropolis'" is at all a natural or even intelligible 
description of the road that runs along the foot of 
the Pnyx Hill, as viewed from the space to the north 
of the Areopagus. It has only a gentle slope * and it 
does not lead directly to the Acropolis at all ; a branch, 
indeed, zigzags off from it to the Acropolis just as from 
the modern carriage road, as it approaches the Odeum of 
Herodes; but the more direct road leads to the Itonian 
Gate on one side, to the Theatre of Dionysus on the 

1 The modern road along the same line has a slope of about one in twenty. 



132 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Site of Agora from near Theseum. 
Above, Acropolis and Areopagus, 'and path up to saddle between them. 

other. Nobody at the present day, who found himself 
to the north of the Areopagus, would think of describ- 
ing the passage to the west of it as the ascent to the 
Acropolis, or of going round that way to the Acropolis 
if on foot. The ascent between the Areopagus and 
the Acropolis is indeed a steep one, and unsuitable 
for carriages ; but it is not so steep as the ascent 
immediately below the Propylaea; nor is there any 
reason for supposing that a carriage road went by it. 
For carriages and for processions with unwieldy vehicles, 
the more circuitous route is doubtless preferable ; and 
if we must imagine that such processions usually passed 
through the Agora and out at its upper end, then 
they most probably did go by the road under the Pnyx 
Hill. Even then, however, Arrian's expression, fj avufxev, 
could still more naturally refer to the ordinary, not 
the processional, route ; the existence of the two ways 
is to some extent confirmed by the passage in the 
epistle attributed to Diogenes, 1 describing the two 

1 No. 30. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 133 




Site of Agora from near Theseum. 
Above, Areopagus, Museum, and Pnyx Hill, and road between them. 

roads leading up to the Acropolis, one short and steep, 
the other long and gently sloping ; but it is more likely 
that this refers to a short cut at the final ascent, for it 
is only pointed out on a near approach to the Acropolis. 
It is, moreover, possible that the Panathenaic pro- 
cessions, after circling round the Agora, left it again 
at the point at which they entered, and went round 
another way, — perhaps below the east end of the 
Acropolis, — so making an almost complete circuit of 
the city. There is, indeed, some evidence in favour 
of this route. And, if so, there is no reason left for 
regarding the ascent from Agora to Acropolis as pass- 
ing to the west rather than to the east of the 
Areopagus. This discussion has involved some antici- 
pation of matters that really belong to a later period, 
and has led us into something of a digression. But 
it is of essential importance to our notion as to 
the position of the most central parts of the early as 
well as of the later town. If we suppose the Agora 



i 3 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

to lie just north of the gap between Areopagus and 
Acropolis, another great advantage is gained in the 
comparative proximity of the Prytaneum below the 
precinct of Aglauros to the Buleuterium and Tholus, 
which are so closely associated with it both in history 
and in daily life and ritual. It is even more difficult 
to accept a scheme of topography which involves a 
considerable distance between these buildings for the 
early town than for the later; and according to the 
theory which makes the Agora extend up to the foot 
of the Pnyx, they would be separated, not only by a 
linear distance of over five hundred yards, but also 
by a great part of the rocky mass of the Areopagus. 

Assuming then as probable, if not certain, the results 
of this investigation, let us attempt to form some gen- 
eral notion of the lower town of Athens, as it was in the 
time between the expulsion of the Tyrants and the 
Persian Wars. And it will be convenient to begin at 
the same place at which we shall have to begin also 
our visit to the city with Pausanias, some 650 years 
later. But before we enter the city, it will be well to 
take a more comprehensive survey, such as one may 
have from the top of Lycabettus. The view from such 
a height as this makes one realise the meaning of the 
picturesque expression of the Delphic oracle, 770X105 rpo- 
XoaSeos aKpa Koiprjva. The city, surrounded by its 
wall, is just like a wheel, with the Acropolis standing 
up like a huge nave in the middle of it, its shapeless 
mass still showing the uncouth strength of walls like 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 135 

those of Tiryns or Mycenae. Away to the left, outside 
the town walls, is the vast but unfinished structure of 
the Olympieum, and beside it the Pythium, another work 
of the Tyrants. Beyond the city the peninsula of the 
Piraeus is as yet nothing more than a quarry, with a 
small fort on Munychia, built by Hippias, — but built 
to secure his own escape rather than as the begin- 
ning of the splendid fortified harbours that are soon 
to be devised by Themistocles. Farther away on the 
right is Salamis, already colonised by Athenian settlers, 
but still awaiting the battle predicted by the same 
Delphic response that has just been quoted, which will 
make it a household word ; and, in the middle of the 
Saronic Gulf, /Egina, "the eyesore of the Piraeus," 
the home of some of the most formidable rivals of the 
Athenians in art as well as in commercial and naval 
supremacy — rivals for another fifty years, until they 
are driven out to seek a new home, and their places are 
taken by colonists from Athens. The forms of the 
mountains are the same in all ages ; but Pentelicus 
does not yet show the white scar of the quarries from 
which the architecture and the sculpture of Athens are 
to draw their material. The course of the Cephisus is 
marked by the broad band of olive groves that supply 
a great part of the wealth of the town, and through 
them passes the Sacred Way to Eleusis, which is already 
rising to eminence among the national shrines of Greece, 
though not yet enjoying the recognised preeminence 
of a later age. Between the olive groves and the town 



136 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the Sacred Way passes through the Potters' Quarter, 
the Ceramicus, which is divided by the town wall into 
an inner and an outer portion. Here the potters' work- 
shops are already at the highest point of their commer- 
cial activity and of their artistic skill. The vases made 
of the beautiful red clay of the Ceramicus, -and painted 
by a band of artists who can never be surpassed in 
delicacy and precision of line drawing and in beauty of 
decorative effect, are already famous throughout Greek 
lands, and even beyond. The tombs of Italy will pre- 
serve them in great numbers to fill the museums of 
Europe. The quaint and stiff black-figured work has 
already made way for the finer red-figured technique ; 
and among the potters and painters who may be seen 
at work are men like Euphronius, Brygos, and Hieron, 
whose fame as artists will be far greater twenty-four 
centuries after their death than it is in their life- 
time. For they are mere artificers, many of them at 
the head of large manufactories with numerous assist- 
ants ; and though doubtless the city may take some 
pride in the great foreign demand for their work, its 
extreme beauty is taken as a matter of course, though 
it really is in advance of the time. 

Let us now leave our point of survey on the top of 
Lycabettus, and begin our passage through the city 
from the Potters' Quarter. Between the Outer and 
the Inner Ceramicus we pass through a gate which is 
the chief gate of the city ; for through it passes the 
Sacred Way to Eleusis, which is also the highroad 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 137 

to the rest of continental Greece. Here too the 
Panathenaic procession, greatly increased in magnifi- 
cence under the Tyrants, is marshalled before it starts 
its progress through the town. It was through this 
gate that the tyrant-slayers, Harmodius and Aristo- 
giton, rushed out to kill Hipparchus, who was super- 
vising the preparations ; we shall see their statues later 
on, where they have recently been set up at the top 
of the Agora. Within the gate is a street lined 
with booths and stalls for the sale of various goods, 
leading to the lower end of the Agora. The Agora 
itself is not a regular square surrounded by colonnades 
such as has come into fashion in the rich cities of Ionia, 
but a more or less irregular space, above which we can 
see, rising high up on the left, the cliffs and walls of the 
Acropolis, and, immediately in front, the lower rock of 
the Areopagus. Around it are buildings for the resort 
of the citizens and for the transaction of public business ; 
near the top on the right, the Buleuterium, founded 
by Theseus when he first made Athens into the central 
city of Attica, but now the home of the new senate of five 
hundred organised by Clisthenes ; near it is the Tholus, 
the sacred hearth of the state, where the sacrifices are 
regularly made by the officials of the day ; a little way 
off to the left, below the slope of the Acropolis and the 
cave of Aglauros, is the Prytaneum, where the officials 
are housed and hold their frugal banquets. Close to 
it is the temple of the Dioscuri, where Pisistratus 
assembled the people together in arms, and then, having 



138 ANCIENT ATHENS 

enticed them away, had all their arms collected and 
carried into the sanctuary of Aglauros just above. 
The open space of the Agora leads at the top to a 
kind of platform on the side of the hill ; this place 
is called the Orchestra, and its associations for us are 
most interesting. Here, when a rude scaffolding has 
been erected that reaches to the poplar trees surround- 
ing the open space, the first plays of the famous Attic 
drama are performed at the festival of the Lenaea ; 
for the great theatre is not yet built, nor do plays yet 
form any part of the festival held in the precinct of 
Dionysus Eleutheretis to the south of the Acropolis, 
although there is an early orchestra there also for the 
choruses to dance on in honour of the god. Here too, 
beside the ascent to the Acropolis, are set up the statues 
of Harmodius and Aristogiton, who slew the Tyrant 
Hipparchus, and have now come to be counted as the 
heroes and champions of freedom. The statues are 
by Antenor, 1 one of the greatest of Attic sculptors of 
the day, and as we look at the impetuous forward rush 
of the two friends, their majestic stature and proportions, 
and the hard and sinewy modelling of their muscles, we 
can appreciate the extraordinary vigour that already dis- 
tinguishes Attic sculpture, and that promises wonderful 
things when a little more beauty and moderation have 
been added to it. 

1 It is, of course, doubtful whether the statues we now have are derived from the 
work of Antenor or from that of Critius and Nesiotes, which were set up instead when 
Xerxes had carried off Antenof's figures ; but even if Antenor's were different in 
style, one may be excused the slight anachronism; a few years later the group by 
Critius and Nesiotes was in this spot. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 139 

If we mount past these statues, toward the entrance 
of the Acropolis, we can see more of the town on various 
sides. Here and there are temples, some of them of 
very early date, some of them showing the more sump- 
tuous work of the Tyrants. But the streets and houses 
of the town have a very mean aspect, even the houses 
of such well-known men as Aristides, or Miltiades him- 
self, who is a Tyrant when at home in the Thracian 
Chersonese, are not to be distinguished by their greater 
size or magnificence. Most of them are mere hovels of 
wood and mud or unbaked brick, set perhaps on a stone 
foundation, and with a flat mud roof; and they are set 
so close to the narrow streets that it is not safe to open 
a door from within without first knocking on it to warn 
passers-by. Reaching the western front of the Acropolis, 
we see such a quarter just below us, in the hollow be- 
tween us and the Hill of the Pnyx; though the road 
that runs through it is a main thoroughfare, it is barely 
fifteen feet wide — less in places. Here, as usual, the 
mass of houses is varied by some open spaces. Where 
the steep path leading straight down in front of us meets 
the road, there is a great fountain built at the foot of the 
Pnyx Hill ; and from the lions' heads in its face flows 
the plentiful supply of water which the Tyrant Pisis- 
tratus brought in a long tunnel from far up the valley of 
the Ilissus, just as his friends Theagenes of Megara and 
Polycrates of Samos made aqueducts for their towns. In 
front of the fountain is an oblong place ; and above this 
is a precinct dedicated to Amynos, the healing hero, 



140 ANCIENT ATHENS 

for the Athenians have not yet introduced the foreign 
worship of Asclepius to supersede their local cult. A 
little farther along to the right, just below the Areopa- 
gus, is an early triangular precinct, with a temple and 
an altar, and a wine-press in the corner that marks it as 
sacred to Dionysus. If we proceed farther to the south, 
amidst the dismantled terraces of the Pelargicon, now 
no longer defensible without a wooden barricade, we 
may see to the south and south-west other early tem- 
ples. Outside the walls are the huge columns of the 
Olympieum, and beyond it the suburb of Agrae on the 
other side of the Ilissus, with the temple of Demeter 
where the Lesser Mysteries are now established, and 
recognised as part of the official ceremonies of Eleusis. 
Could we return a year or two later, after Xerxes and 
his devastating host have passed through the country, 
while the women and children of the Athenians are 
exiled to Salamis and ^gina and Trcezen, and the men 
are still awaiting with the rest of the Greek army the 
crowning victory of Plataea, a very different sight would 
meet our eyes. The temples are all reduced to charred 
and blackened ruins, of the town walls but a few short 
pieces remain, and the houses are all destroyed, except a 
few in which the leaders of the Persians had established 
themselves. But the disaster was timely ; when the 
Athenians returned to rebuild and to enlarge their city, 
they were ready to fill both Acropolis and town with a 
wealth of architecture, sculpture, and painting that 
would soon surpass all that the invaders had destroyed. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 141 



IV a. On Thucydides, II. 15. j and 4. 

" Before the time of Theseus the city consisted of 
what is now the Acropolis, and the district outside it 
to the southward. And a proof of this lies in the fact 
that the temples of other gods also (as well as Athena) 
are in the Acropolis, and those without are situated 
rather toward this part of the city 1 — the temple of 
Olympian Zeus, the Pythium, the temple of Earth, and 
the temple of Dionysus in the Marshes, in whose 
honour the older Dionysia are celebrated in the month 
Anthesterion, according to the custom still observed by 
the Ionians who came from Athens. And other ancient 
temples are situated in this region ; " and the fountain 
Callirrhoe or Enneacrunus, being near, is used by 
the early inhabitants for most important purposes. 2 
" And because of the ancient occupation of this district 
the Acropolis is still called the City (Polis) by the 
Athenians." 

In this passage Thucydides makes two distinct 
statements, and quotes evidence to prove them: (1) that 
the early city was mainly in the Acropolis ; (2) that such 
portion of it as was outside the Acropolis lay to the 
south. 

The proof of the first statement is simple, and consists 
of the facts that early shrines existed on the Acropolis, 

1 I.e. to the south ; it is the interpretation of this clause that is most disputed. 
See below. 2 See Note I a. 



142 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and that the Acropolis was still in Thucydides' time 
called " the city." So far there is no dispute. But the 
rest of the passage has led to much discussion. The 
usual interpretation is simple and obvious : it identifies 
the Olympieum and the Pythium as the well-known 
temples near the Ilissus, and the Enneacrunus as the 
spring close to them in the river bed ; it places the Dio- 
nysium in the Marshes just to the south of the great 
Theatre, and identifies the shrine of Earth with that 
mentioned by Pausanius near the Olympieum. All these 
are to the south or south-east of the Acropolis, and so fit 
the simplest interpretation of the words of Thucydides. 
According to this view, the historian, like Curtius and 
others in modern times, regarded the valley south of 
the Acropolis as the centre of Athenian civic life in 
early times. In this he may have been mistaken ; he 
had not the advantage of seeing some of the evidence 
that has come from recent excavations ; but his opinion 
is clearly expressed and intelligible. 

The other theory about the passage, which is advo- 
cated by Professor Dorpfeld, regards this interpretation 
as inconsistent with actual facts, and attempts to recon- 
cile the statements of Thucydides with a different 
system of Athenian topography. The main objections 
to the current interpretation are the following : — 

(i) The Olympieum and the Pythium beside the 
Ilissus are too far from the Acropolis to be included 
within the limits of the primitve city. 

(2) The temple of Dionysus in the Marshes was not, 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 143 

according to Professor Dbrpfeld, to the south of the 
Acropolis near the Theatre, where, indeed, he denies 
that marshes could ever have existed. 

(3) The fountain Callirrhoe in the Ilissus is too far 
off to be mentioned as near to the primitive city; and 
moreover, a position of Enneacrunus near the Ilissus 
cannot be reconciled with the description of Pausanius. 

Accordingly Professor Dbrpfeld proposes a solution 
which avoids all these three objections ; he says : — 

(1) The Olympieum and Pythium mentioned by 
Thucydides are not those near the Ilissus, but earlier 
ones, close under the Acropolis ; the Pythium he identi- 
fies with the cave of Apollo in the north-west face of 
the Acropolis rock. 

(2) The temple of Dionysus in the Marshes is to be 
identified with an early precinct of Dionysus, containing 
a wine-press, an altar, and a small temple, which has 
been found in Professor Dorpfeld's excavations close 
under the Areopagus. 

(3) The fountain Callirrhoe must be identified with 
one of the springs in the Pnyx Hill facing the Acropo- 
lis, and Enneacrunus is the termination of the aque- 
duct built by Pisistratus to supersede this scanty supply. 

Each of these three propositions requires careful 
consideration; but before investigating them separately 
and in detail, their general relation to the interpretation 
of the passage must be understood. It is clear, in the 
first place, that the position of the temples and the 
spring, as given by Professor Dorpfeld, does not con- 



144 ANCIENT ATHENS 

firm the statement of Thucydides that the early city, 
so far as it was outside the Acropolis, lay to the south, 
for they all lie to the west or northwest of the entrance 
of the Acropolis. This Professor Dorpfeld admits ; 
but he says that the evidence quoted by Thucydides 
is intended to prove, not that the city outside the 
Acropolis lay to the south, but that his general state- 
ment is correct, as to the early city consisting of the 
Acropolis and its immediate surroundings. Accord- 
ingly Professor Dorpfeld would translate 7rpos tovto to 
fxepos rrjs 7roXews, not " in the direction of this side of 
the city," i.e. the south, but " toward this district of the 
city," i.e. the Acropolis and its surroundings. There 
are two chief objections to this interpretation : the 
first, that 7rpos with the dative would have been far 
more usual with this meaning; the second, that if 
such was Thucydides' intention, he need never have 
mentioned the south at all ; it is not required by the 
context, nor consistent with the evidence he produces. 
Before Professor Dorpfeld's interpretation is substi- 
tuted for the more obvious one, it must be shown to 
be not only admissible, but to be required by the con- 
text or the facts of the case ; we must then return to 
the three topographical questions already indicated. 
(i) There is no satisfactory evidence for a second 
Olympieum and Pythium. Strabo, indeed, in mention- 
ing the altar of Zeus Astrapaios, from which the light- 
ning was observed over Harma before the despatch of 
the sacred embassy to Delphi, says that it was situated 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 145 

on the wall between the Pythium and the Olympieum; 1 
and the line about these same Pythian lightnings in 
Euripides' Ion certainly associates them with the shrine 
of Apollo, vtto Ma/cpat? or vn v AfCyoai9, as it is called in 
inscriptions of Roman date. If we had no other evi- 
dence as to Pythium or Olympieum, we might naturally 
have inferred that both these temples were situated 
at this north-west corner of the Acropolis rock, and 
that the Pythium was identical with the known shrine 
of Apollo in this place. But it is not disputed that 
the temples usually known as the Olympieum and the 
Pythium were situated by the Ilissus ; we are therefore 
forced to accept one of two alternatives: either that 
Strabo, whose knowledge of Athenian topography is 
notoriously slight and inaccurate, must have made some 
mistake, probably in transcribing from another authority, 
or that there were a second Pythium and Olympieum 
close under the Acropolis. Professor Dorpfeld, as we 
have seen, prefers the second alternative ; and he would 
quote in confirmation of it, not only the passage in 
Thucydides that is now under discussion, but also the 
statement of Philostratus, in his life of Herodes Atti- 
cus, about the Panathenaic ship. After describing this 
sumptuous structure, which was made to advance over 

1 It is often stated that Harma could not be visible from the region beside the 
Ilissus, where the well-known Pythium and Olympieum are situated ; but this is an 
exaggeration. The platform of the Olympieum, according to Kaupert's map, is only 
I in 50 below the ridge that intervenes between it and the direction of Harma; so 
that Harma could be visible from the top of a quite low wall, if no buildings inter- 
vened. Still, the place is not a specially convenient one for such observations. 



146 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the ground on rollers, drawn by unseen mechanism, he 
tells how it left the Ceramicus, turned round the Eleu- 
sinium, passed along the Pelasgicon, and reached the 
Pythium, where it now rests at anchor. But I see no 
reason why this should not mean the Pythium by the 
Ilissus, which was near to the stadium and other monu- 
ments of Herodes' activity. It would have been very 
difficult to haul such a complicated structure up to the 
gate of the Acropolis, and quite impossible to get it any- 
where near the shelf of rock by the MaKpai Pausanias, 
indeed, mentions a Panathenaic ship as set up near the 
Areopagus ; but the order of his description seems fatal 
to identifying this ship as the one set' up near the 
Pythium, even if the Cave of Apollo could be so called ; 
for he mentions first the caves of Apollo and Pan, then 
the Areopagus (which is some distance off), and then 
this ship. It may be objected that it is unlikely that there 
were two such ships ; I do not think this is a serious ob- 
jection, for it is evident Herodes had a new and special 
one made ; but even if it be admitted, it is surely far 
less improbable than the existence of two Pythia and 
two Olympiea, mentioned by writers of all periods, yet 
never distinguished. Thucydides himself mentions the 
Pythium, in VI. 54. 6, without further definition, mean- 
ing the Pythium by the Ilissus, where the inscription he 
quotes in that passage has actually been found. Where 
there is danger of confusion, as in the case of the Dio- 
nysium, Thucydides is careful to state which of two 
shrines he means ; and such a clear definition would 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 



147 



have been doubly needful in the case of a Pythium and 
Olympieum, since the names are already specialised. 
The analogy of the many churches dedicated, e.g., to 
St. Mary in a modern town is not a true one ; it would 
be fairer to quote dedications to, e.g., Our Lady of 
Loretto; and if two such existed in a town, we cannot 




District of Limn^e. 
Acropolis to left, Olympieum and Stadium to right. 

imagine any writer quoting one of them without dis- 
tinction as topographical evidence. It is a fair infer- 
ence from all this that the first alternative in the 
explanation of the passage of Strabo is the true one ; 
he was mistaken, and with him disappears the only 
independent evidence for a second Pythium and Olym- 
pieum, which we may therefore reject as in the highest 
degree improbable. It follows that the Olympieum and 



i 4 8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Pythium mentioned by Thucydides must here, as else- 
where, be the well-known temples near the Ilissus. 

(2) The temple of Dionysus in the Marshes offers 
a problem more difficult to decide. The quarter of 
Limnae or the Marshes is generally placed by topo- 
graphers south of the theatre, but there is little evidence, 
apart from this passage, to confirm the theory. On 
the other hand, I think Professor Dorpfeld goes too 
far in denying that this region can ever have been 
marshy ; the Codrus inscription proves that it was 
intersected by a great ditch, of which the mud was 
valuable for putting on land. It is, however, to be 
observed that Thucydides expressly distinguishes this 
temple as associated with the older Dionysia; and 
his object in doing this is evidently to avoid confusion 
with the better-known precinct of Dionysus Eleu- 
thereus, which adjoined the theatre. 

The early precinct of Dionysus found by Professor 
Dorpfeld below the Areopagus was forgotten and built 
over in Roman times, though some survival of its 
cultus may have been kept up by the Iobacchi, whose 
hall was built above part of the site. It is hardly 
credible that this fate could have overtaken a shrine 
so important in state religion as the Lenaeum with its 
annual festival ; and the whole precinct is extremely 
small for celebrating, in the flourishing days of Athens, 
such a popular festival as the Lenaea or the older 
Dionysia in the month Anthesterion. It is to be ob- 
served, of course, that the identity of the Lenaeum 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS 149 

and the Dionysium in the Marshes, though often as- 
sumed, has never been proved ; and so it cannot be 
used as an argument on either side. The words of 
Thucydides, however, show plainly that the Dionysium 
in the Marshes was not identical with the precinct of 
Dionysus Eleuthereus by the theatre ; nor is there any 
very clear evidence to show where it was. 

(3) The evidence for the position of Enneacrunus has 
been discussed elsewhere ; and we have seen that there 
is a strong consensus of authority in favour of its being 
in the Ilissus — a consensus strong enough to outweigh 
the contrary evidence of Pausanias. Thucydides' words 
in this passage would not be difficult to reconcile with 
either view. The spring in the Ilissus is close to the 
Olympieum and Pythium; but, on the other hand, a 
spring in the face of the Pnyx Hill would be near, even 
if the town outside the Acropolis were mostly situated 
to the south. It is not necessary, though it is natural, 
to regard Thucydides' quotation of Enneacrunus as 
part of the evidence he gives for the city lying south ; 
it might well enough be in confirmation of his general 
statements about the early city. 

It will be seen, from this examination of the dispu- 
table points in detail, that while the evidence as to the 
Dionysium in the Marshes is indecisive, the Olympieum 
and the Pythium must be the temples near the Ilissus, 
to the south-west of the Acropolis, and Callirrhoe in this 
case is to be identified with the spring near these 
temples. In this way the whole passage means what 



150 ANCIENT ATHENS 

it appears to mean at first sight ; while, even if it be 
possible to extract from the Greek a meaning consistent 
with Professor Dorpfeld's theories as to Athenian topo- 
graphy, such an interpretation would never occur to a 
scholar unacquainted with the facts. 1 It is not relevant 
to quote Thucydides' notorious obscurity ; he is never 
intentionally or unintentionally misleading, and in this 
passage he is evidently trying to make his meaning 
as clear as possible by appealing to facts known to 
his readers ; and it is incredible that under these cir- 
cumstances he should express himself in a way that 
was sure to be misunderstood. Put in its simplest 
form, his statement amounts to this, " The early city 
consisted of the Acropolis and the region to the south 
of it ; in proof of this may be quoted the position of 
certain early temples inside and outside the Acropolis." 
Those who hold with Professor Dorpfeld that all the 
temples here quoted as lying outside the Acropolis 
lay to the west and north-west of it, practically attribute 
to Thucydides an extraordinary lack of logical clearness 
and appreciation of the value of evidence — the very 
qualities for which the historian is usually celebrated. 
And this is quite apart from the grammatical possibility 
of justifying Professor Dorpfeld's interpretation of the 
words in detail. These considerations compel us to hold 
to the usual interpretation ; the only topographical 
inference from it, beyond what can be ascertained inde- 

1 Pace Dr. Verrall, who says it would have occurred to him. But Thucydides 
could not expect such ingenuity in all his readers. 



THE TOWN BEFORE THE PERSIAN WARS iqi 

pendently from other sources, is that the Dionysium in 
the Marshes was to the south of the Acropolis, — where, 
exactly, we cannot say. 

Finally, if we accept the traditional interpretation, 
we must see how the objections raised against it by 
Professor Dorpfeld can be met. 

(i) The position of the Olympieum and Pythium 
is not, indeed, near enough to the Acropolis for them 
to have been included within the small primitive city. 
But Thucydides does not say they were; and it is a 
very common thing for such shrines to lie outside city 
walls. All Thucydides says is that their position rela- 
tive to the primitive city is such as to show that it 
lay to the south of the Acropolis ; and this is true. 

(2) The position of the Marshes, and of the temple 
of Dionysus in them, is too problematic to prove or 
disprove any theory. 

(3) The fountain of Callirrhoe in the Ilissus is indeed 
far off, and so this objection carries some weight; but 
the fact of its use by the inhabitants of the primitive 
city is strikingly confirmed by the statement of Herod- 
otus. After all it is only about 650 yards from the 
nearest point of the Acropolis, and less still from the 
region south of the Acropolis which would be included 
in the primitive city, — no very great distance to go for 
good spring water in Greece, — and the Olympieum 
would give shelter and protection on the way. 



CHAPTER V 

EARLY ATTIC ART 

The sack of the Athenian Acropolis by the Persians 
marks an epoch in the architectural history of the city. 
It also marks an epoch in the history of Attic art, as 
known to us at the present day; for the fragments 
buried after the return of the Athenians, which now, 
after their recovery, are arranged in the museums of 
modern Athens, give us a representative series of pottery, 
of bronzes, of architecture, and of sculpture. This 
series can be dated with certainty at its lower limit ; 
and, from its completeness and the uniformity of char- 
acter which distinguishes it, in spite of minor differ- 
ences, it can give us a good general notion of the 
artistic achievements of a Greek city before the Per- 
sian Wars — of a city which, though at this period but 
one of many rivals, was during the succeeding century 
to attain, in art as well as in literature, an acknowledged 
preeminence. 

The only other sites that can be compared with the 
Athenian Acropolis in the number and variety of the 
monuments of early Greek art that their excavation 
has yielded are Olympia and Delphi ; but these were 

152 



EARLY ATTIC ART I53 

both of them common centres of Hellenic life, where 
the various Greek states emulated one another in the 
richness of the buildings and the offerings that they 
dedicated. At Athens, on the other hand, although 
of course foreign offerings are by no means excluded, 
the great majority of the buildings and dedications 
represent the products of local art and industry. It 
is probable that, if accident had preserved for us with 
equal completeness the early artistic records of many 
other Greek cities, of Sparta or Argos or Sicyon, for 
example, of Thebes or Chalcis, of Miletus or of Syra- 
cuse, we should find in them almost, if not quite, as 
interesting a series. But it is peculiarly fortunate for 
us that, if only one city was to yield us so full a record 
of its early art, that city should be Athens ; for we 
can thus follow the continuity of its development from 
the earliest to the latest times, and can see the same 
national characteristics again and again asserting them- 
selves under changing conditions at home and under 
varying influences from abroad. It is not only the 
excavations of the Acropolis that have contributed to 
our knowledge of early Attic art ; the early ceme- 
teries of Athens and Attica have also yielded a great 
number of antiquities, especially pottery. The great 
cemetery of the Ceramicus, just outside the Dipylon 
Gate, in particular, contained an immense number of 
vases of all periods, not only placed within the graves, 
but also set up as monuments above them, just as 
the same cemetery has, for later times, given us the 



154 ANCIENT ATHENS 

unrivalled series of the Athenian sculptured tomb- 
stones. 

From about the eighth to the fifth century B.C., it is 
the pottery which is, in some ways, the most charac- 
teristic product of Attic art and handicraft, and that 
offers us the most continuous record of development. 
We have, indeed, records of a much earlier time, in the 
vases and fragments of Mycenaean type that have been 
found among the remains of the same period on the 
Acropolis, and in tombs like those of Sparta, of Menidi, 
and of Thoricus. But these do not, so far as we can 
judge at present, show any peculiar local character- 
istics, other than those that belong to the whole class 
of " Mycenaean " antiquities in Greece ; much of them 
may be of foreign importation. Still less are the yet 
earlier prehistoric fragments of pottery that have been 
found in Athens to be regarded as specifically Attic ; 
rather, they belong to a common stock which extends 
all round the Mediterranean Sea. It is when we come 
to the geometrical period that the potters of the Ce- 
ramicus, the Athenian " Potters' Field," first vindicate 
for Athens the position which it always afterwards 
retained in the history of Greek ceramic art. The 
" Dipylon " vases, as they are generally called from 
the fact that the majority of them have been found 
in the cemetery outside the Dipylon Gate, are not, 
indeed, in their simpler examples, essentially different 
from geometrical vases found elsewhere on the Greek 
mainland and the /Egean Islands. They show the 



EARLY ATTIC ART I55 

same rigid patterns such as might be drawn, the 
straight lines with a ruler, the curved with a compass ; 
the same predilection for varieties of the " key pattern," 
from a simple zigzag up to an elaborate meander, and 
for concentric circles, or circles joined by sloping 
tangents, in contrast to the free and flowing lines of 
Mycenaean decoration. Even the friezes of aquatic 
birds and of gazelle-like animals, perhaps ibexes, are 
to be found outside Athens; and so is the rigid divi- 
sion of the whole field of ornamentation into a series 
of zones, the broader ones divided up into panels like 
the metopes and triglyphs of a Doric temple. The 
most characteristic features of the Attic or Dipylon 
variety of geometrical vases are the following: their 
form is usually either narrow and very high, especially 
in the neck, or else of a squat cylindrical shape, usually 
with a flat lid and handles modelled in the form of 
horses ; they are frequently of enormous size, especially 
those intended to be set up as monuments over tombs. 
These large vases usually have very high conical bases, 
and their handles are usually placed in horizontally 
set pairs on each side ; the projection between each 
pair is sometimes shaped and painted to represent 
the head of an ibex, to which the handles serve as 
horns. It is, however, the subjects represented on 
the Dipylon vases that give them their chief interest. 
Men and horses are frequently figured, both in a con- 
ventional geometrical style of drawing that unduly elon- 
gates the limbs and makes the waist unnaturally slim ; 



156 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



the upper part of the human body is usually a mere 
triangle, except when it is covered by a Boeotian shield ; 
the head is almost birdlike in form. The scenes are 
for the most part appropriate to the destination of the 

vases ; funeral proces- 
sions are a favourite sub- 
ject, and are worked out 
with an amount of detail 
which seems almost in- 
consistent with the primi- 
tive nature of the draw- 
ing. We sometimes see 
the corpse resting on a 
hearse which is mounted 
on wheels, and over- 
shadowed by a gorgeous 
canopy. Around and 
beneath it are mourners, 
men and women, with 
their hands to their heads in the conventional attitude 
of grief. The cortege is accompanied by numerous 
chariots, and another frieze often contains a band of 
chariots only, which may be an allusion to the chariot 
races which usually formed a part of funeral games. 
Another favourite subject on Dipylon vases is the ship 
with its banks of rowers, sometimes on a very elaborate 
and extensive scale, 1 and even scenes of naval combat. 
These vases, in spite of the crudeness and convention- 

1 As in the case published by Mr. Murray inJ.H.S. XIX. PI. VIII. 




Dipylon Vase, with Funeral. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 15 7 

ality of their drawing, show us some of the most exten- 
sive representations of scenes from actual life that are 
known to us in Greek art ; mythological scenes are 
unusual upon Dipylon vases. 1 Thus, so far as the choice 
of subject is concerned, the Dipylon vase is in the same 
stage of artistic development that we see in the Homeric 
description of the shield of Achilles, though the tech- 
nique implied by that description finds closer analogies 
elsewhere. 

The period to which the Dipylon vases must be 
assigned can be ascertained with some degree of 
exactness, especially as to its lower limit. Certain 
tombs excavated near the Dipylon in 1891 contained 
not only vases of characteristic Dipylon ware, but also 
some foreign importations, including two small por- 
celain lions of Egyptian manufacture. These lions can 
be dated from their fabric, and from the hieroglyphics 
with which they are inscribed, to the age of the Saitic 
Dynasty, — that is to say, to the seventh century b.c. 2 
It follows that the tombs in question cannot belong to 
an earlier date than this ; they cannot be later, because 
we have, from the sixth century onward, a continuous 
succession of the Attic fabrics that follow the disappear- 
ance of the Dipylon ware. The earlier limit of the 
Dipylon period is not so easy to fix. Fragments of 
geometrical vases, indistinguishable from the Dipylon 



1 Perhaps the only example is the vase mentioned in the last note. 

2 This date is confirmed by both Professor Petrie (see J.H.S. XII. p. 338, note) 
and by M. Naville {Bull. Corr. Hell. 1893, p. 189). 



158 ANCIENT ATHENS 

type, have been found on various sites in Greece together 
with late examples of Mycenaean pottery ; but even this 
fact does not give us a clear criterion, for, although we 
know the flourishing age of the Mycenaean civilisation 
in Greece to have been about 1400- 1200 B.C., it is by no 
means certain how long the later stages of Mycenaean 
art lasted on before its final extinction. 

The origin of the Dipylon fabric and the history of its 
naturalisation in Athens are among the most puzzling of 
artistic problems ; and recent excavation has not con- 
tributed much to their solution. For we cannot as yet 
trace the stages by which it was evolved, whether by 
growth from some single and original type of ornamenta- 
tion, or by a gradual transformation of some other decora- 
tive system. In either case we find the Dipylon style 
already developed into a complete system when it first 
occurs in Attica, in succession to Mycenaean pottery. 
The usual explanation of such a phenomenon is the 
intrusion of foreign imports or foreign influence, if not 
an alien immigration or conquest. The known history 
of the Athenians, who prided themselves on their con- 
tinuous autochthony, precludes the latter possibility. 
And if foreign import or influence be assumed, we 
have still to find the source of that influence, for, 
although geometrical pottery of a similar nature is 
found elsewhere, it has nowhere as yet been found in 
sufficient quantity or in a primitive enough form for 
us to be able to trace its origin. It is possible that 
future excavations may throw more light on this ques- 



EARLY ATTIC ART 159 

tion ; for the present we must be content with the fact 
that the Dipylon style became and remained for some 
time characteristic of the Attic potters, and that they 
treated it with a vigour and originality that entitled 
them to claim it as their own, from whatever source it 
was ultimately derived. I Toward the end of its Attic 
development it became merged in a new style which is 
commonly known as Phaleric, because the best-known 
examples of it have been found at Phalerum. * This 
ware is, for the most part, of a smaller and more deli- 
cate type, though a few larger vases exist. It is dis- 
tinguished from the Dipylon pottery mainly by the fact 
that it introduces motives, both animal and decorative, 
which are of Oriental origin. It thus corresponds more 
or less in period to the so-called Oriental style of pottery 
which we find elsewhere — particularly at Corinth and at 
Rhodes, and on the coast of Asia Minor. The ornamen- 
tation of this latter pottery is probably derived from an 
imitation of Oriental w r oven fabrics ; it borrows from the 
same source the rosette, the band of lotus, the palmette, 
and other similar devices imitative of flowers or plants ; 
and it mingles with them the fantastic winged crea- 
tions that are familiar in Oriental art, — gryphons and 
sphinxes, and human-headed birds (sirens), as well as 
lions, stags, boars, dogs, and other animals. The 
" Oriental " type of Greek pottery also has a way of 
filling the field around the figures with various orna- 
ments, doubtless in imitation of the woven fabrics in 
which the threads of warp and woof had to be crossed 



i6o 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



as often as possible, and so any expanse of a simple 
plain colour had to be avoided. This " Oriental " style 
never became indigenous in Athens, as it did in many 
other Greek cities at this time. But it exercised a 

strong influence on the 
Phaleric ware, which, while 
retaining the technique and 
often the shape of the 
Dipylon vases, substituted 
motives derived from an 
Oriental source, either 
wholly or in part, for the 
traditional ornaments and 
subjects of Dipylon ware. 
The Phaleric pottery, how- 
ever, still retained some of 
the most characteristic sub- 
jects of the Dipylon ware, 
— men on foot and in char- 
iots, armed warriors, some- 
times in combat, and men 
and women in the choric 
dances. The human fig- 
ures are drawn with more 
freedom, though still in a conventional manner ; but the 
predilection for scenes from daily life continues to be 
characteristic of the Attic potter. The period to which 
the Phaleric pottery belongs can be fairly accurately 
defined. It succeeds the Dipylon style, which was, as 




Amphora from Hymettus. 
From Jahrbuch des deutsches Institut. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 161 

we have seen, still in full activity in the seventh cen- 
tury B.C. Yet it has no painted inscriptions, and only 
one incised inscription is known at present as occur- 
ring upon it — and that an inscription which shows us the 
Attic alphabet in a more primitive form than is other- 
wise recorded. It seems to disappear before the fabrics 
which are characteristic of the beginning of the sixth 
century. From these facts it seems clear that the 
Phaleric ware must be assigned to 'the closing years 
of the seventh century B.C.; there is no need to give it 
any great extension in time. It would thus coincide 
with the age of the rise of tyrants in Greece generally, 
and with the time of Cylon's attempt at tyranny in 
Athens and Draco's legislation. The modification, in 
fact, that came over the Dipylon style at this time is 
a part of the general awakening to new ideas and new 
impulses, and is contemporary with the rise of free 
sculpture in Greece, as contrasted with purely decorative 
art. At first we find the new influences merely modify- 
ing the Dipylon ware into the Phaleric, but very soon we 
notice an essential change, which led to the supremacy 
of the Attic potters. This change consists partly in 
the use of superior clay and improved pigments, partly 
in the adoption of a freer and more vigorous style of 
drawing. It is now that the beautiful red clay of the 
Athenian Ceramicus first gains its true value, being used, 
not only for the general substance of the vases, but also 
for the more finely ground slip that forms their visible 
surface, and that has ever since been regarded as the ideal 

M 



162 ANCIENT ATHENS 

" terra-cotta " colour. j{ A fine contrast to this red colour 
is offered by the black varnish paint, with its even, glossy 
surface ; the two in various combinations produce the 
black-figured and red-figured vases. Neither of these 
two classes is, of course, peculiar to Athens, nor was 
the black-figured technique probably invented there ; * 
but the quality both of clay and of pigment soon 
brought Athens to the front, and created a demand 
for her vases throughout the civilised world. Some- 
times the red colour of the earth forms the ground 
over the whole vase, and the figures and orna- 
mentation are merely drawn upon it in black silhou- 
ette ; sometimes the greater part of the surface of 
the vase is covered over with lustrous black var- 
nish, panels only of red being left' for the insertion 
of the black figures. Some of the earlier examples of 
these Attic black-figured vases have merely zones of 
animals, one below another, such as we may see on 
Corinthian, Rhodian, and other fabrics ; but the Attic 
predilection for scenes with human figures soon asserted 
itself in this technique also. One of the finest early 
examples is the enormous vase, found in the Ceramicus, 

1 The older view — still held by some — is that in this matter Athens was indebted 
to Corinth; some even go so far as to call the early Attic vases Corintho- Attic. 
But the influence of Corinth on Athens, and the counter-influence of Athens on 
Corinth, are matters on which much difference of opinion may and does exist. 
There is no reason why the same tendency should not have been operating 
simultaneously, owing to the constant interchange of exported wares, not only 
in Corinth and Athens, but in many other cities which possess characteristic fabrics 
of early black-figured pottery. And, moreover, many early blaclofigured vases 
have been found on the eastern side of Attica, and at Eretria, which show no 
Corinthian affinities, and may well have influenced the potters of Athens. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 163 

and having, as its principal subject, the Gorgons pur- 
suing Perseus — who, curiously enough, is not repre- 
sented — and their decapitated sister sinking in death; 
on its neck is a group of Heracles and the Centaur, 
Nessus (Nero?). It is to be noted that in both these 
cases the subject chosen is only a part of a well-known 
tale, and that the rest is not even implied by the 
presence of Perseus in the one case or of Deianira 
in the other. The decapitation of Medusa by Perseus, 
which preceded his flight, and the violence of the 
Centaur to Deianira, which brought on him his pun- 
ishment, are both familiar subjects in early art ; if they 
had been present on the same vase, we might have 
understood the absence of one of the principal charac- 
ters in each of the scenes artistically depicted. As it 
is, one is forced to the conclusion that the vase painter 
has chosen for the decoration of his vase two scenes 
which, in themselves, are incomplete and only partially 
intelligible, and which must have belonged to a series 
of well-known subjects that completed and illustrated 
one another. The existence of such a repertoire, at 
such a time, might seem strange if we considered only 
these Attic vases; but, as we shall see, there were 
already other branches of decorative art that had a 
whole stock of such subjects available. 

The most complete contrast to this vase, with its two 
scenes executed on a large scale, is offered by the famous 
Francois vase in Florence, which alone supplies us with 
a whole gallery of mythological pictures. It is signed 



i6 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

by Clitias as potter and Ergotimus as painter ; and their 
names, as well as the inscriptions attached to all the 
figures, which are in Attic characters, show that the 
vase was made in Athens, though it was found in Italy. 
These two large vases may be taken as representative of 
two main types of early Attic black-figured ware. The 
majority of the vases of this ware found both in Athens 
and outside it are smaller and less elaborate ; they tend 
to conform to a limited number of well-known shapes, 
among which the hydria and the amphora are the com- 
monest for the large classes, the jug or cenochoae, the 
cylix, and the lecythus for the smaller. It is impossible 
here to give even a sketch of the development of black- 
figured vase-painting in Athens. It was customary in 
this and the succeeding period for the chief potters to 
sign their work, and any study of vases must begin with 
a careful and detailed observation of the style and idio- 
syncrasies of the various artists ; such a study is only 
possible with the help of numerous accurate illustrations, 
or, better still, of an extensive collection of the vases 
themselves. Around the signed vases the rest will 
group themselves into classes of which the date and 
character can be readily distinguished. All that is pos- 
sible here is to note the general tendencies of the Attic 
potters, and the periods of their work. 

The black silhouette in which the figures were first 
drawn was made by the finer potters of this period little 
more than a ground to carry elaborate designs in incised 
lines, and also in purple and white pigment. The par- 



EARLY ATTIC ART 165 

allel wavy lines that indicate the hair of men or beasts, 
and the rich diaper pattern of drapery, are rendered with 
a delicacy more appropriate to fine metal work than to 
pottery ; indeed, the technique used is rather that of the 
bronze worker or goldsmith. We shall see later that this 
extreme love of elaboration and delicacy, often to the 
detriment of strength and vigour, is characteristic of 
other branches of art also during this period at Athens. 
It was, however, also an age of experiments ; and many 
different methods for adding details to the untractable 
black silhouette were tried. One method was to cover 
the red clay with a white pigment, against which the 
black figures stood out still more clearly ; this, in foreign 
examples, had already been associated with the practice 
of leaving part of the figures — especially the faces — in 
outline ; the effect was not unlike that produced on the 
Attic vases themselves by the addition of white pigment 
over the black on the faces and other parts of female 
figures. Within the outlines it was then possible to add 
details by lines drawn in black or colour, and not incised. 
From this system was evolved the technique of painting 
in outline on a white ground, which is among the most 
beautiful and characteristic of those used by Attic pot- 
ters about the beginning of the fifth century. The black 
silhouette figures on a white ground, which are com- 
monest on lecythi, probably continued to be made even 
in the fifth century, and are often of very careless work ; 
the evolution of the polychrome lecythus belongs to the 
period after the Persian Wars. Another experiment, which, 



166 ANCIENT ATHENS 

however, did not lead to any very great results, was the 
painting of figures in opaque white pigment over the 
black varnish of the ground ; the interest of this experi- 
ment lies chiefly in the fact that it at least inverts the 
apparent values, and shows us light figures against a 
dark ground. 

The great change from black-figured to red-figured 
pottery produces the same result in a simpler and more 
satisfactory manner. Here, instead of drawing the fig- 
ures in black silhouette, the artist merely draws the out- 
line of the figures, and then fills in the whole of the 
background with black varnish-paint, so that the figures 
stand out in the beautiful red colour of the Attic clay. 
On this red surface it is then possible to add all details 
with a brush or pen dipped in the same varnish, or in a 
diluted mixture of it for the lighter lines. This is the 
technique in which the majority of the finest examples 
of Greek ceramic art was executed. It used to be 
generally supposed that these examples must be about 
contemporary with the masterpieces of Greek sculp- 
ture of the middle of the fifth century ; and such a 
statement will actually be found in some of the older 
handbooks. When, however, one looks at the style 
of the vases themselves, their rich Ionic draperies, 
their elaboration of detail, it is easy to realise that 
the earlier red-figured vases are contemporary with the 
pre-Persian sculpture which we can see in the Acropo- 
lis Museum ; and, as a matter of fact, there have been 
found, in the Acropolis excavations, among the rubbish 



EARLY ATTIC ART 167 

buried after the Persian sack of Athens, not only frag- 
ments of the earliest red-figured vases, but also por- 
tions of painted vases with the names of the great 
masters of vase-painting, Euphronios, Duris, Brygos, and 
Hieron. As most of these fragments must be earlier 
than 480 B.C., it follows that these masters were already 
working in the earlier decades of the fifth century, 
and that we must assign the earlier examples of red- 
figured vase-painting to the closing years of the sixth 
century B.C. The chronology of vase-painting, as thus 
established upon clear external evidence, shows that the 
development of the art, from early black-figured ware 
down to the first red-figured, occupied a much shorter 
period than has sometimes been thought probable ; but 
this rapid advance is by no means incredible, when 
we consider the extraordinarily quick development in 
politics and literature, no less than in art, that marks 
the century preceding the Persian Wars. 

If we found it impossible to follow in any detail the 
development of vase-painting in black-figured, still more 
is this the case with red-figured vases, since the potters, 
as their art improves, advance in individuality and free- 
dom. Those who wish to study the subject must be 
referred to the numerous special treatises that have 
been devoted to it. 1 In the earlier examples we see 
little more than an inversion of the black-figured tech- 

1 For a bibliography of them see Huddilston, Lessons from Greek Pottery. The 
most important are Klein's Vasen mit Meister signatures, and Euphronios, and Hart- 
wig's Meisterschalen. 



168 ANCIENT ATHENS 

nique, with the same love of elaborate detail ; the same 
conventions or errors of drawing persist; for example, 
the eye is always drawn as if full-face when the face is 
in profile ; and the eyes of men are rounded, with 
circular pupil and iris drawn, while those of women 
are mere narrow slits ; here again we shall find an 
analogy in sculpture. Just at the beginning of the 
fifth century we find a stronger and more dignified 
style coming into vogue, as it does in sculpture also. 
The simpler Doric drapery replaces the rich folds of 
the Ionic chiton and peplos, and the drawing too be- 
comes more vigorous and bolder, both in what it 
attempts and in what it performs. The close resem- 
blance that has been marked between the drawing on 
the finest of the vases of Euphronios and the profile of 
the Delphi charioteer, which can be dated to 482- 
472 b.c, confirms the chronology of vase-painting as 
established by the Acropolis excavations ; and the 
metopes of the Athenian treasury at Delphi, which was 
dedicated from the spoils of Marathon, also show the 
strongest affinity of style to the severer red-figured vases. 
Thus vase-painting, instead of having a separate devel- 
opment of its own, fits in exactly with what we know 
of contemporary work in bronze and marble. 

The vases that have been found in Athens come 
mainly, as we have seen, from two places, the Acropolis 
and the cemetery of the Ceramicus. That is to say, they 
were either dedicated to the gods or buried with the 
dead, if not set up as monuments over them. The same 



EARLY ATTIC ART 169 

two causes, dedication and burial, are responsible for the 
great majority of the vases found outside Attica also; 
but the tombs have yielded by far the richest harvest, 
and, naturally, have more frequently preserved complete 
examples. The museums of Europe are full of black- 
figured and red-figured vases found in the cemeteries of 
Etruria ; and the finest of these are nearly all of Attic 
workmanship. They thus testify to a very extensive 
export trade in pottery from Athens to Italy. The vases 
found in Athens itself cannot compare with those found 
in Italy, either for quantity or completeness of preserva- 
tion ; but some of the fragments found on the Acropolis 
are unsurpassed by any in beauty of fabric and delicacy 
of drawing. No distinction can be drawn between the 
pottery found on the Acropolis and the similar vases 
found in Etruria; and from this fact several inferences 
may be drawn. It is clear, in the first place, that the 
vases in question were exported from Athens ; and 
although this was generally admitted in the case of the 
finest examples, it was disputed by high authorities, 1 
especially in the case of some of those that showed 
more careless drawing, and were supposed to be later, 
possibly local, imitations. Specimens of this more care- 
less work, as well as of the finer, have been found in the 
Acropolis excavations, and so have decided this question. 2 
In the second place, it is evident that the vases found in 

1 Especially by Brunn, in his Probleme in der Geschichte der Vasenmalerei, 
and elsewhere. 

2 Of course there exist local Italian fabrics in imitation of Attic pottery; but these 
are different, and can be readily distinguished in most cases. 



i 7 o ANCIENT ATHENS 

Italy do not represent a special ware prepared only for 
the foreign market, but that they were intended for use 
at home also — in fact, that they represent the ordinary 
output of the Attic potteries. The purposes for which 
the vases were made is a question not so easy to answer ; 
but we learn, again from the discoveries on the Acropo- 
lis, that they were not, as has sometimes been supposed, 
made expressly for burying in tombs with the dead. 
The funeral lecythi were - made for this purpose; but 
ordinary vases must have been placed in the tombs as 
ordinary articles of household furniture, else they could 
not have been fitting offerings to dedicate to the gods on 
the Acropolis. The same inference may be drawn from 
the fact that there not infrequently appear upon vase- 
paintings vases resembling the one on which the scene 
is painted, in actual domestic use. Amphorae, hydriae, 
and cylices were doubtless used to hold wine or water or 
to drink from ; and although vessels of metal or of plain 
pottery were perhaps commoner, the former among the 
richer classes, the other among the poorer, there is no 
reason to suppose that the painted vases were intended 
only for ornament or for ceremonial use. 

Certain classes of vases, however, had special purposes. 
The best-known of these are the Panathenaic prize 
amphorae ; although most of the examples of these that 
survive belong to a later age, they certainly existed in 
the early days of black-figured painting. They were 
made, as Pindar tells us, to contain the oil from the 
sacred olive trees of Athens : — 



EARLY ATTIC ART iyi 

yaia Se KavOetaa 7rvpl Kap7ros eAcuas, 
. . . cv ayyioiv 
cp/ceciv 7rafx,7roLKi\oL<;. 

This sacred oil was given as a prize to the victors in the 
Panathenaic games, in varying quantities, from 140 
amphorae to 1. The Panathenaic amphorae always have 
a figure of Athena on one side, and a representation of 
the event for which they were given as prize on the 
other. It is hardly probable that the victor in the chariot 
race, for example, received 140 of these vases. Origi- 
nally, perhaps, the figure of Athena may have been an 
official guarantee of the genuineness of the oil ; but, after 
the first, it seems more likely that the oil, which was of 
real commercial value, was stored in more suitable ves- 
sels, and that one painted vase, perhaps, was presented 
to each victor as a symbol of his prize. Such Pan- 
athenaic vases might appropriately enough be dedi- 
cated to a divinity, especially to the goddess in whose 
honour the contest took place; it might also be set up 
in the victor's home, and be buried with him in his 
tomb. 

Almost any kind of vase might be so dedicated or 
buried ; the dedication would probably mean either that 
the vase itself or some other, which it symbolised, had 
been used in some sacrifice or religious ceremony ; the 
burial vase in its original intention was probably for the 
use of the deceased, though this notion was probably 
merged, in historical times, in a more abstract idea of 
doing him honour. Certain classes of vases were, how- 



172 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



ever, peculiarly devoted to funeral use. 
Aristophanes to the painter, — 



The reference of 



os tols veKpoiai t,oiypa<pu ras Xt)kvOov<s, 

must refer to a custom older than his own time. The 
lecythus, though used in life also, was peculiarly the vase 
of the dead, probably because it held the unguents used 
for a temporary embalming before the funeral. The ala- 

bastron, a kindred form 



of vase, served the same 
purpose, as we may re- 
member from a familiar 
passage in the New Tes- 
tament. 1 The lecythus 
was not only placed in 
the tomb, but small 
lecythi were set upon 
it outside, and some- 
times a large one was 
erected over it as a monument. Imitations of these 
were later made in marble, and formed, as we shall 
see, 2 a not uncommon kind of tombstone. 

We have noticed how the Dipylon vases, with repre- 
sentations of funerals, were used in early times as monu- 
ments over tombs. In continuation of this tradition we 
find a whole set of interesting vases, called prothesis 
vases from the subject upon them, which is usually the 




Early Prothesis Vase, with Tomb. 
From Monumenti 'd. Instituti Arch. 



1 Mark xiv. 3, where it is wrongly translated " alabaster box " in the A.V. 

2 See Chapter XL, " The Ceramicus." 



EARLY ATTIC ART i 73 

" laying out " of the corpse surrounded by mourners. 
That these vases were used as monuments is proved by 
the most satisfactory evidence : on one of them the 
mound of a tomb is depicted, with a vase of identical 
shape set up on the top of it. The shape of the vases 
varies slightly, but most of them have a high neck and 
two long handles ; and certain traditional ornaments, such 
as a snake around the top, are usually preserved. They 
usually have no bottom, and so libations poured into them 
would sink into the tomb over which they were placed. 
We see on them various stages of vase-painting, from 
black-figured up to advanced red-figured style. Another 
series of vases, identical in shape with these, has a dif- 
ferent set of subjects; they represent marriage ceremo- 
nies, especially the bridal procession and the toilet of the 
bride. And on one of these vases we see in the procession 
a maiden carrying a vase identical in shape with the one 
on which it is painted. 1 This can be no other than the 
\ovTpocf)6po<;, the vessel in which the water for the bridal 
bath was brought from Callirrhoe. Its resemblance to the 
prothesis vases and its erection over the tomb might well 
puzzle us but for the clue given by Demosthenes, 2 who 
quotes a Xovrpofiopos set up over a tomb as conclusive 
evidence that the deceased was unmarried. It is a fair 
inference that all the vases of this shape were set up over 
the tombs of those who died unmarried. The symbolism 
is not hard to understand for those who remember the 

1 Mon. Inst. X. 34. 

2 Upbs Aew*. 18. See Wolters, Mitth. Ath. XVI. p. 371. 



174 ANCIENT ATHENS 

familiar Greek metaphor that those who died unmarried 
had Hades for their bridegroom : — 

ov yafAOV dAA AiSav e7rivt>fi</>tSiov. 

These high two-handled vases were, as well as the lecythi, 
later imitated in marble ; 1 and there is little doubt that the 
marble Xovrpotfropos also continued the same symbolism. 

The history of decorative work in metal shows many 
analogies to that of vase-painting, and has to follow the 
same stages of development. Here we are concerned 
mainly with bronzes, which are associated with bone and 
ivory carvings of a similar character ; and these bronzes 
have, for the most part, been found in the Acropolis exca- 
vations. 2 They were not, indeed, so numerous as the 
bronzes found at Olympia. 3 But the Olympia bronzes 
serve to fill up the gaps in the Athenian series, and to 
explain many things that would otherwise have been 
isolated and inexplicable fragments. But the finer work 
found in Athens has a quality of its own beyond any- 
thing of the same class at Olympia, and serves as an 
epitome of the Attic style of the period. 

But little has been found in Attica of metal work 4 
preceding the geometrical period, though ornaments in 
porcelain and other materials have been found in Attica 
at Spata and Menidi, for example, which show no essen- 

1 See Chapter XI. below. 

2 Bather, J.H.S. XIII. 232-271 ; De Ridder, Catalogue des bronzes trouves sur 
l'Acropole d'Athenes. 

3 See Olympia IV., die Bronzen (Furtwangler). 

4 The most important is a set of Mycenaean bronzes found in the Acropolis; cf. 
De Ridder, op. cit. I. p. iv. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 175 

tial difference from other objects of the same period 
found at Mycenae and elsewhere. Thus they confirm 
the testimony of the vases that Athens, while sharing 
the prevalent " Mycenaean " civilisation and art, did not 
strike out any characteristic line of its own. In the 
geometrical period we might expect to find a develop- 
ment in decorative metal work corresponding to the 
Dipylon pottery ; and the Acropolis excavations have 
supplied us with some evidence to justify this expec- 
tation. There were found, in the first place, a great 
number of portions of tripods and other decorative 
pieces of bronze, with characteristic geometrical designs 
resembling those on the Dipylon pottery. The designs 
on these are all incised, not raised in relief ; indeed, the 
bronze of which they are made, being very hard and 
brittle in texture, could hardly be treated in any other 
way. On some of the more elaborate, and presumably 
later, of these geometrical bronzes, we find both Oriental 
types of ornaments, such as rosettes and palmettes, 
and beasts, leopards and boars for example, such as 
one sees on vases of the " Oriental " style, and through 
the same influence, on Phaleric ware. It is hardly a 
rash inference that these geometric transitional bronzes 
are probably contemporary, or at least at the same stage 
of artistic development, as the Phaleric vases. 

Later, just as we find the influence of various foreign 
styles of pottery, " Oriental " and others, affecting the 
early Attic black-figured vases that succeed the geo- 
metrical style, so too we find foreign bronze style and 



176 ANCIENT ATHENS 

technique influencing the Attic bronze-worker. Some 
of those foreign models have actually been found on 
the Acropolis, including, on the one hand, a Phoenician 
or Cypriote bowl with a repousse decoration of winged 
sphinxes and other Oriental forms, and, on the other 
hand, specimens of the very fine and decorative reliefs 
generally recognised as Argive or Argeo-Corinthian. 
The bronze of this class of reliefs is of a much finer 
quality, very ductile and flexible, and so adapted to 
fine repousse work. We find on the Acropolis a large 
class of bronze reliefs which combine the characteristics 
of both the geometrical and the Oriental styles, combin- 
ing the use of incised lines with a slight relief. On 
this class we find many scenes represented not unlike 
those on early vases ; and they may very probably 
represent the Attic bronze work of the sixth century. 
So far we have been concerned mainly with deco- 
rative reliefs. To these must be added a great num- 
ber of ornaments, handles of bowls, etc., some of which 
are very fine specimens of delicacy in workmanship. 
The finest of them, which take the form of figures in 
the round, or have such figures attached to them, are 
not to be distinguished artistically from the statuettes ; 
and these, as well as fragments of larger figures in 
bronze, belong rather to the general development of 
sculpture. This slight sketch of decorative bronze 
work in Athens must suffice to show that it takes 
its place beside vase-painting as a part of the general 
development of Attic art before the Persian Wars. 



EARLY ATTIC ART i 77 

The Attic architecture of the same period is known 
to us mainly from the remains of early buildings which 
were either used as substructures or foundations of 
later buildings, or as rubble to fill up the terracing 
of the Acropolis. So far as the buildings to which 
these earlier fragments of architecture belong can 
be identified, they have already been described in 
Chapter III. But many drums and capitals of columns 
and portions of entablature or moulding have been 
found which cannot be assigned with certainty to 
any known temple or shrine ; and the same may be 
said of a good deal of the architectural sculpture that 
has been recovered. There were, doubtless, many 
small temples on the Acropolis or in its neighbour- 
hood of which we know nothing, and of which we 
cannot even trace the foundations. The architectural 
members of some of them have been pieced together, 
and one or two of them have been partially recon- 
structed in the smaller Museum on the Acropolis. 
By their help we can realise that Doric architecture — 
for all these early shrines appear to have been of the 
Doric order — went through the same stages at Athens 
as elsewhere. The capitals in the earlier buildings 
are low and bulging, and gradually approach the 
apparently flat but really subtly curved shape which 
we see in the Parthenon. A good intermediate example 
is offered by the capitals of the colonnade added by 
Pisistratus to the Early Temple of Athena, which are 
distinctly curved in outline, but far removed from the 

N 



178 ANCIENT ATHENS 

rounded, bowl-like shape of their predecessors. The 
entablature, too, has various experimental features which 
show the Doric order not yet stereotyped as it was in 
later times, the number of the guttae, for example, and 
other details of finish and proportion, still varying 
considerably. 

There is no certain example in early Athens of a 
complete building of the Ionic order, although Mr. 
Penrose would restore as such the peristyle of the Old 
Temple of Athena. There are no remains of any 
Ionic entablature, and the numerous Ionic capitals 
of early form that have been found on the Acropolis 
are, for the most part, ornamental pedestals for 
statues. The large Ionic capital attributed by Mr. 
Penrose to the early temple must probably be explained 
in this way also, 'for it has no fellow. This set of 
Ionic capitals is, however, of great interest for the 
light they throw on the development of their architec- 
tural form, and because they show »us the stages by 
which the torus and the volute w^ere harmonised into 
a perfect composition. It is hardly, however, to be 
supposed that this development took place in mere 
isolated capitals and pedestals rather than in com- 
plete Ionic buildings ; and so the Athenian examples 
are of value rather as reflecting the progress made 
elsewhere, than as showing us the Ionic order actually 
in its growth. It is a curious fact that, while there 
are numerous signs of Ionic influence in Athens, — 
among which these capitals must be reckoned, — no 



EARLY ATTIC ART i 79 

Ionic column earlier than those of the Propylaea, and no 
complete Ionic building earlier than the Nike temple, 
have been found ; : for in the great Ionic cities, such as 
Miletus, Ephesus, Samos, and Naucratis, the Ionic 
order was generally used for temples from the earliest 
times. It seems a fair inference that, in architecture 
at least, the artistic affinities of the Athenians were 
with the mainland of Greece rather than with their 
kinsfolk, the Ionians, on the east of the ./Egean. 

Most of the small Ionic capitals found are carved 
in Parian or Naxian marble, and there are also some 
cornices and other pieces of entablature in marble 
with the remains of painted patterns on them ; other 
cornices and mouldings are in painted terra-cotta. 
But the bulk of the material used for the early temple-s 
was Piraic limestone — the material now commonly 
known as poros. It w r as, of course, completely covered 
with a coat of stucco, which was plain white on the 
columns and broader surfaces, but doubtless, like the 
marble, diversified in mouldings and other details with 
painted ornamentation. 

The sculpture that served to decorate the early 
temples of Athens has also survived to a considerable 
extent. It consists chiefly of pedimental groups which 
belonged to the temples of which the architectural 
remains have just been mentioned, but it is not pos- 
sible, in most cases, to assign it with certainty to one 

1 Unless the Ionic temple on the Ilissus, drawn by Stuart, was earlier; in any case 
it was not archaic. 



i8o 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



or other of those buildings. The majority of these 
early pediments represent various exploits of Heracles. 
Amongst these are his fight with the Hydra, and his 




Early Pediment — Heracles and Hydra. 
On left Iolaus and chariot. 

struggle with Triton, twice repeated; he was probably 
also one of the principal figures in other groups that 
are only partially preserved. The sculptors of the 
pedimental groups show a remarkable predilection 
for monsters with scaly and coiling tails, whether of 
snake or of fish — a predilection partly explained by 




Part of Early Pediment — Heracles and Triton. 



the great convenience of these tails in filling the 
otherwise untractable space in either angle of the 
gable. The strangest of all these monsters has three 



EARLY ATTIC ART 



1S1 



heads and human bodies which tail off below the 
waist into serpentine coils; and the three are so 
inextricably intertwined that they appear to form but 
one monster — an effect which is enhanced by the 
addition of two wings only to the whole, one on the 
outer side of each of the outer bodies. This creature 
has been identified, by a comparison with similar 
monsters on vases and with literary references, as a 
Tpicrco/jLaTos Tv^ojv. His antagonist has been variously 
restored as Zeus or Heracles. There are also two 
enormous snakes, of which the scales are worked out 




Typhon. 
From an early pediment. 

with the most detailed care, and which probably went 
to complete the Typhon pediment, and the Triton 
group which corresponds to it in size. 1 In addition 
to these there is a great group of two lions, or, as 
some would restore it, four lions, pulling down a colos- 
sal bull. Though the bull is fairly complete, the 
lions are fragmentary, and, in the absence of any 

1 I understand that Dr. Schrader attributes these two pediments to the Early 
Temple of Athena. As his arguments are not yet fully published, I cannot criticise 
them ; but at present I find the attribution difficult to reconcile with the probable 
age of the temple. It is also difficult to conjecture what became of the groups 
between the erection of the peristyle and the Persian capture of Athens. 



182 ANCIENT ATHENS 













MffirWL m jflf 











Bull and Lions. 

certainty as to the general lines of the composition, 
it is difficult to decide whether it fitted into a pedi- 
ment or not. 

All these sculptures are executed in the same Piraic 
limestone as the early temples, and consequently they 
are commonly known as the sculptures in poros. 1 They 
all show more or less complete remains of the paint that 
once covered their entire surface, and these remains 
suffice to show us the general character of the colouring. 
It was highly conventional, dark blue, for example, being 
constantly used, not only for the hair and beards of men, 
but also for horses and for the body of the bull, while 
the rest of the distribution of the colour was decorative 
rather than naturalistic in character. The background 
was sometimes coloured, sometimes left plain, so that 
the coloured figures stood out against it like the black 
or coloured figures on the clay ground of early vases. 
The subjects and the composition of these early pedi- 
ments offer many other analogies with vases, and espe- 
cially with early Attic vases ; and the same may be said 

1 French, en tuf. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 183 

of the artistic types. A good instance is seen in the 
heads of the Typhon, which have a good deal of resem- 
blance, both in expression and in shape of eye and beard, 
to the heads of Heracles and Nessus on the large, early 
Attic vase. This resemblance is of importance, because 
it has been thought that the style of the poros pediments 
showed a dependence upon Ionic influence, by its simi- 
larity to certain classes of Ionic vases. Now that we 
find a similar style on vases in Athens, we need not look 
for any direct Ionic influence on the sculpture that 
adorned those early temples, any more than in their 
architecture. It seems more probable that we must 
recognise a vigorous local school of art in Athens about 
the earlier part or the middle of the sixth century B.C., 
which not only is visible in industrial products, such as 
pottery and decorative bronzes, but was also capable of 
building temples and decorating them with sculpture 
of an individual character. 

Looked upon as sculpture, not merely as a decorative 
adjunct to architecture, the early poros groups have 
some merits and some defects. They are vigorous and 
original in composition, well adapted to the fields they 
have to occupy. The figures of which they are com- 
posed are full of life and action ; their features, though 
somewhat uncouth, are full of expression; the forms of 
their bodies and limbs, though heavy even to clumsiness, 
are not ill-proportioned ; even the position of muscles and 
sinews is appreciated and indicated, not indeed by cor- 
rect modelling, but by shallow incised grooves. Perhaps 



1 84 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



the finest piece of treatment of surface is seen in the 
bull ; the wrinkles of his neck and the soft texture of 
his muzzle are indicated by curved lines and by close-set 
holes that suggest the technique of drawing or bronze- 
working rather than of stone. But, on the other hand, 
we miss entirely in these early Attic sculptures the con- 
scientious study of detail, the refined and exact study 

of joints or hands or feet, that 
mark the progress of archaic 
Greek art when dealing with a 
few oft -repeated types, and 
working them gradually up to 
perfection. This defect may 
be due partly to the fact that 
we have here architectural 
sculptures, partly to the coarse 
material in which they are exe- 
cuted ; but even in marble 
works of the same age, we see 
the same characteristics — for 
example, in the statue of a 
man bearing a calf on his shoulders, which was dedi- 
cated, as its archaic inscription shows, in the earlier 
part of the sixth century. This statue is in the local 
Hymettian marble, a material little used for sculpture, 
and only here used experimentally. In the work we 
see the same life and vigour of effect, together with 
the same lack of precision and care in details. 

The great change that comes over Attic sculpture 




Man carrying Calf. 



EARLY ATTIC ART x8 5 

about the middle of the sixth century is probably to 
be attributed mainly to the influence of Pisistratus. 
Until his time Athens had been more or less isolated 
and more or less content with no very conspicuous 
position among Greek cities. His policy was to en- 
courage the Panhellenic feeling among the Greeks 
generally, and to encourage social and artistic inter- 
course between the various states; and, above all, to 
raise Athens to a commanding position among her 
fellows, partly by giving a Panhellenic importance to 
the Panathenaic games, partly by encouraging literary 
and artistic enterprise. We have noticed the effect of 
his influence on the buildings of the Acropolis and 
lower city; he attracted to Athens, not only poets 
and literary men, but also artists, and particularly 
sculptors, from other centres of artistic progress. It 
was above all to the rising schools of sculpture in 
Asia Minor and the islands, already famous for the 
use they were making of the fine marbles of Naxos 
and Paros, that Pisistratus seems to have turned ; we 
actually find on the Acropolis several bases of statues 
that attest, by the different alphabets used in their 
inscriptions, the presence of Ionic artists — among them 
men as well known as Archermus of Chios and Theo- 
dorus of Samos, representatives of the two families 
who made rival claims, according to the two traditions 
recorded by Pliny, to have originated sculpture in 
Greece. The presence of such artists and their pupils 
in Athens would be sure to have a great influence 



1 86 ANCIENT ATHENS 

upon the work of home sculptors. In the case of 
statues in Naxian and Parian marble, there is always 
room for doubt whether the marble was imported into 
Athens in rough blocks for the use of sculptors on 
the spot, or in the form of statues already finished, 
before export, by the hands of Naxian and Parian 
sculptors, near the quarries where the marble is found. 
Statues, both finished and unfinished, in Paros and 
Naxos, testify to the early skill of the local sculptors ; 
in some cases, too, they may have accompanied the 
marble from their native islands to the places where 
there was a demand for their statues. Some modern 
authorities believe their influence and activity to 
have been very widespread, and have even gone so 
far as to attribute to them much of the architectural 
sculptures of Delos and Olympia ; but the evidence 
hardly justifies so extreme a view. At present we 
are concerned only with Athens ; and there, it is to 
be noted, the set of sculptors' names that occur upon 
pedestals of statues contain none which we can identify 
with certainty as those of Parian or Naxian sculptors, 
and none are written in the characteristic alphabets 
of Naxos or of Paros. 

The earliest considerable work in imported marble 
which has been found in Athens is the pedimental sculp- 
ture from the early temple of Athena. This sculpture 
must be contemporary with the erection of the peristyle 
round the temple, probably by Pisistratus. The subject 
was the battle of the gods and giants. The central 



EARLY ATTIC ART 187 

group, which represented Athena transfixing a pros- 
trate giant with her spear, is fairly well preserved, as 
are also two other recumbent figures, presumably of 
wounded giants, from the same composition. The 
style is in some ways intermediate between the earlier 
limestone pediments and the marble statues on the 
Acropolis. The composition is bold and vigorous, 
the expression on Athena's face lively, if somewhat 
crude. Her eyes are full and round ; in the forms of 
the body and limbs of the giants there is much of the 
same character that we see in the limestone sculptures. 
The positions shown are more difficult, and sometimes, 
consequently, less successful ; for example, the chest 
and arms of one of the giants are fairly correct, and 
also his legs, but the turn of the lower part of the body 
between the two is not clearly realised, and consequently 
quite falsely rendered. The finish in details is finer, 
doubtless owing chiefly to the superior material. A 
very similar group, both in style and subject, orna- 
mented the pediment of the temple at Delphi, built 
by the banished Athenian Alcmaeonids shortly after the 
middle of the sixth century; and so we have a con- 
firmation of the date to which the Athenian pediment 
must be assigned. A striking feature of trie sculpture 
is the rich use of colour, especially in the large pendent 
aegis of Athena, which is decorated with a scale pattern 
that recalls the tails of the monsters on the earlier 
pediments. 

The greater part of the sculpture in imported marble 



1 88 ANCIENT ATHENS 

on the Acropolis is not architectural, but forms a series 
of statues, most of them dedicated to Athena. The 
great majority of these are draped female figures ; their 
exact significance is much disputed, and, very likely, 
was not much clearer to the dedicators themselves than 
it is to us. All we know is that the statues were 
officially called Kopai or maidens ; that they were dedi- 
cated by men as well as by women, and that they could 
be offered to a god as well as to a goddess. An 
extreme example is offered by the inscription, 1 

TrjvSe Koprjv dviOrjKev aurap^v NavA.0^0? aypas 
fjv ol Hovto/jl€&wv X-pvororptaiv tiropev, 

where we notice, in addition to the other points already 
mentioned, that the " maiden " is offered as a " first 
fruits." This example violates almost every rule that 
has been formulated about Greek dedications, and shows 
that those rules, though they may be true in the main, 
are not to be strictly interpreted, and admit of excep- 
tions. The reason why an offering took the form of a 
maiden is not easy for us to recover ; what is most to 
our present purpose is to note that this form of offering 
was very common, and of practically universal appro- 
priateness. 'The result, for us, is that we have, to illus- 
trate the history of Attic art, a series of statues which 
is perhaps rather monotonous, repeating the same type 
over and over again with but slight variations ; but 
which is, for that very reason, all the more instructive, 

1 CIA. iv. 1. 373. 9. 




Female Draped Figure. 



EARLY ATTIC ART IQI 

since it allows us to trace the continuous development 
of sculpture without the necessity of allowing for varia- 
tions of subject. 

There are among these statues two or three that are 
evidently of foreign workmanship ; but the rest show so 
many common characteristics, and so great a difference 
from series of the same type found elsewhere, — at Delos, 
for example, — that we cannot but regard them as the 
product of a single school ; and it can hardly be main- 
tained that this school is any other than the Attic. 
When, however, we compare the statues of this series 
with the earlier Attic works, the limestone pediments, 
for example, or even the marble pediment of the Old 
Temple of Athena, it is impossible not to recognise that 
a great change has taken place. The change is probably 
due, as we have seen, to the foreign artists who gathered 
round the court of Pisistratus. 

The Attic art which grew under these influences in 
the latter part of the sixth century is more remarkable 
for refinement and delicacy than for strength. It delights 
in the rich folds of the complicated Ionic drapery, and in 
the varied details of an elaborate coiffure. The face and 
its expression are carefully studied ; the round, open eye, 
which we still find in some of the earlier of the " maidens," 
gives way to a comparatively narrow aperture between 
the curved eyelids ; the mouth substitutes for the broad, 
archaic grin of earlier times a subtly curved bow, not 
altogether free from affectation. The rich and lively 
effect produced by these statues is in great measure due 



i 9 2 ANCIENT ATHENS 

to the good preservation of their colouring, which has 
for the first time given us a clear notion of the applica- 
tion of colour to sculpture in early Greece. The fine 
material, and the traditions it has brought with it, have 
had their effect. The whole surface is no longer covered 
with an opaque coat of paint, as in the case of the rough 
limestone pediments. The change was probably facili- 
tated by the custom uf representing the flesh of women, 
and also sumptuous drapery, by a white pigment ; to 
apply such a pigment over the surface of Parian marble 
would be " to gild refined gold." And, when the beauty 
of its texture, where exposed to view, was once appre- 
ciated, there would naturally be a tendency to leave as 
much as possible of it visible. We accordingly find that 
in this set of "maidens," the use of colour is restricted 
within narrow limits. It is, in the first place, applied to 
the hair, the eyes, and the lips, the pigment used for the 
hair and lips being red, and the same for the iris of the 
eye, and usually for the outlines of iris and pupil ; but a 
darker pigment is generally used for the pupil itself, and 
sometimes for the outline of the iris. It will be seen 
that this colouring is still partly conventional, certainly 
not naturalistic in character; but the red colouring on 
hair and iris is probably intended to represent an actual 
and admired type. The usual colour of the hair of the 
Tanagra statuettes is the same, and the red-brown eyes 
of the Delphi charioteer, itself probably an Attic work, 
will not easily be forgotten by those who have seen them. 
On the drapery we find similar principles of decoration. 




Female Draped Figure. 



EARLY ATTIC ART i 95 

No garment is covered with a complete coat of paint 
unless only a small portion of it is visible. The main 
surfaces are always left white, showing the natural tex- 
ture of the marble, but they have richly coloured borders, 
and are sprigged with finely drawn decorations, the col- 
ours used being mostly rich and dark ones — dark green, 
which was in some cases originally blue, dark blue, pur- 
ple, or red. The effect of this colouring, whether on face 
or garments, is to set off and enhance by contrast the 
beautiful tint and texture of the marble. Those who 
have only seen white marble statues without any touches 
of colour to give definition to the modelling and variety 
to the tone can have no notion of the beauty, life, and 
vigour of which the material is capable. 

The dress of the " maidens " shows a grace and 
elaboration that is in accord with the style of their 
sculpture. There are several varieties ; but the majority 
are clothed after a fashion that may be classed as 
Ionian. This need not surprise us, when we remember 
the story told by Herodotus, 1 how, after a certain disas- 
trous expedition to ^gina, the Athenian women set 
upon the sole survivor and stabbed him to death with 
their brooches; and how, in consequence, they were 
forbidden thereafter to wear brooches at all, but to adopt 
the linen Ionic chiton, instead of the Doric. This 
change must be assigned to the earlier part of the sixth 
century; on the Francois and other early Attic vases 
women wear the Doric chiton, with its large brooches on 

* v. 87. 



196 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



the shoulders. On the other hand, Thucydides a tells us 
that in his time the Ionian dress, with its linen chiton, 
had only recently been given up by old-fashioned peo- 
ple. Thus the prevalence of Ionian dress in Athenian 

fashion just about coincides with 
the period to which the statues we 
are considering must be assigned. 
The reversion to the simpler Doric 
dress seems to have taken place 
about the time of the Persian Wars, 
and it coincided with a tendency 
in art also to severer and more 
dignified forms. We can already 
see an anticipation of this im- 
provement in some of the maid- 
ens who find their place in the 
series. One (p. 197), while differ- 
ing from the rest rather in refine- 
ment and delicacy of modelling 
than in type or artistic method, shows to what skill 
in marble technique the Attic sculptors had attained. 
Another (above), of simpler modelling, has succeeded 
in transforming the archaic smile into an expression 
that is not without charm and even fascination for many 
of those who see it. In these last two we may see, 
as it were, the culmination of the Ionic tradition, as 
inherited by Attic sculptors. But it was not this tradi- 
tion unalloyed that led up to the masterpieces of the 




Female Draped Figure. 



il. 



vi. 3. 




- 
w 

< 

Q 






p 

< 



EARLY ATTIC ART i 99 

fifth century. Before we turn to the examples of a 
new and more severe influence, it will be better to 
notice some other classes of characteristic early Attic 
work. One of these forms, so to speak, a connecting 
link between the " maidens " and the decorative bronzes ; 
it is a set of statues of flying Victories, such as are 
used on a small scale in bronze for the supports of 
boxes and other purposes ; the type is familiar in marble 
from the Victory of Archermus on Delos, which, as the 
work of a Chian artist, shows that the Ionic schools, 
whose influence we have already noticed, here also 
gave the first suggestion. But the examples found in 
Athens show that here, too, the Attic artists had im- 
proved on their models, especially in the study of 
wind-swept drapery, which, if not always consistently 
treated, is rendered with both skill and delicacy. 
Another series, a set of horsemen that were probably 
dedicated by victors in the Panathenaic races, enable us 
to trace the gradual improvement in the rendering of 
the horse, the stages of preparation that were to lead up 
to the masterly treatment of the horse in the Parthenon 
frieze and pediments. One of the earliest of these is 
of a different nature ; the rider is clad in a suit of many 
colours, with close-fitting trousers, such as are worn by 
barbarian archers on contemporary vases, one of which 
has just such a horseman with the inscription, MiXi-iaS^s 
Kakoq. The date, of course, precludes any reference to 
the battle of Marathon, but the reference on the vase 
may well be to some youthful exploit of "the Tyrant 



200 ANCIENT ATHENS 

of the Chersonese " ; and the statue may be dedicated 
to commemorate the same event. The scaly pattern 
on the rider's dress reminds one of the aegis of Athena 
on the early marble pediment, and the manner of treat- 
ing and colouring the marble suggests that there is no 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Relief of the Nymphs or Hor/e. 



long interval of time between the two works. There 
are also many marble reliefs which show the same 
characteristics as the sculpture in the round. A good 
example is a representation of three dancing maidens, 
preceded by a flute-player and followed by a boy ; the 
subject suggests later reliefs of the Nymphs or -Horse. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 2Ql 

Marble statues or reliefs have been found elsewhere 
than on the Acropolis, and confirm the general estimate 
of Attic art that may be made from the Acropolis exca- 
vations. The best preserved of them come from tombs ; 
an interesting fragment from a cemetery in central 
Attica consists of the basis with a funerary in- 
scription and the feet of a statue which must have 
been similar to the " maidens " on the Acropolis, show- 
ing that the same type was used for monuments or 
tombs — a fact already attested in the case of the 
nude male " Apollo " type. The best known of all 
early Attic tombstones is that of Aristion, made by 
the sculptor Aristocles, which was for some time the 
cardinal monument of early Attic sculpture. From it 
Brunn, 1 with his usual insight, had inferred the 
characteristics that later discoveries have confirmed — 
a skill in composition, a harmony in the balance of mass 
and power, an impression of rest, without which the 
fineness of execution in detail loses its charm. We 
notice these same qualities in the finest — though not 
in all — of the recently discovered examples of Attic art. 

Of sculpture in bronze we naturally have much 
less left than of sculpture in marble ; indeed, the only 
part of a life-size statue preserved from early times, a 
very fine portrait head, is almost certainly of ^Egi- 
netan, not of Attic, workmanship, and so does not 
concern us here, except as it shows that the Athenian 
Acropolis contained, even in the period before the 

1 Gesch. d. g. Kunstl. I. p. 1 1 1. 



202 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



Persian Wars, fine examples of other schools of sculp- 
ture than the Attic. Statuettes, on the other hand, 
have been found in considerable numbers, and show 
the same fine and delicate workmanship that we 





Flat Decorative Bronze Relief 
of Athena. 



Bronze Statuette of Athena 
Promachos. 



noticed in the decorative bronzes. Several repre- 
sent various types of Athena; those which show her 
as Promachos, striking with her spear in raised right 
hand, her shield on her left arm, are among the most 
characteristic. An interesting and very charming ex- 
ample of the more peaceful type, without a helmet, 
is offered by a flat relief, similarly worked on both 
sides, that must have been affixed to a tripod or some 
other such object ; this was also gilt. The types of 



EARLY ATTIC ART 



203 



Athena and of other deities are also represented by 
a very numerous series of terra-cottas, both statuettes 
and reliefs, that have been found on the Acropolis. 

Amongst all these dedications there are but few to 
remind us that there existed also in Athens, at the 
beginning of the fifth century, a 
flourishing school of athletic sculp- 
ture, represented in literary tradition 
by such names as Hegias, Antenor, 
Critius, and Nesiotes. There are, 
indeed, some bronze statuettes from 
the Acropolis, one of particularly 
fine workmanship, which may pro- 
bably be of local origin ; but for 
statues we are dependent upon 
copies. The most famous works of 
this athletic Attic school were the 
statues of the tyrannicides, Harmo- 
dius and Aristogiton, which were 
set up at the upper end of the 
Agora. 1 The first group, made by 
Antenor, was carried off by Xerxes, and returned to the 
Athenians later by Alexander or Antiochus ; it was re- 
placed immediately after 480 B.C. by another group 
made by Critius and Nesiotes, and it is of this latter 
group most probably that the statues now in Naples 
are the copies. They bear out Lucian's description of 
the works of these early masters, as sinewy and hard 

1 See p. 128. 




Bronze Statuette of 
an Athlete. 



204 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



and stiff in outline ; but at the same time they show 
a splendid vigour in the impetuous rush of the two 
friends against the tyrant, and there is an impression 
of heroic size about them, due to the dignity and large- 
ness of their proportions, and in strong contrast to the 
neat and compact figures of yEginetan sculpture. In 
the one head preserved, that of Harmodius, there is no 

great advance toward 
freedom, though the 
affectation which we 
noticed in some of the 
Acropolis heads is 
avoided. For the finest 
example of a severer 
and simpler treatment 
of the face, due, no 
doubt, partly to for- 
eign, probably Pelo- 
ponnesian, influence, 
but adding to it all 
the Attic qualities of 
delicacy and grace, we must again turn to a marble 
head from the Acropolis, that of a young man, which 
probably comes from an athletic statue. We may 
compare with this in style — though far behind it in 
beauty of execution — a small bronze head from the 
Acropolis, which might almost be an Argive work, 
and the upper part of a marble figure, which at once 
distinguishes itself from the rest of the " maidens " by 




Head of Young Man. 




Female Draped Figure, showing Severer Influence. 



EARLY ATTIC ART 207 

the simplicity and severity of its modelling, by its 
prominent eyelids and the downward turn of its lips, 
as if in reaction against the archaic smile (p. 205). 
The head of a young man or ephebus shows these 
same characteristics, and has much in common with 
the head of the Delphi charioteer and the heads drawn 
on the severer of the red-figured vases, such as the 
finest of those made by Euphronios. It thus shows 
us, in a most pleasing form, just the stage reached by 
one branch at least of Attic art when the capture of 
Athens by the Persians destroyed the older dedica- 
tions and made room for new ; it also shows us the 
typical young Athenian who fought at Marathon and 
Salamis. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 

€(ttl iv ty} aKpoiroXt TavTr) Ep€^^€os tov yrjyeveos Xi.yop.ivov eirai 1/7709, ev 
T(3 iXatY] re Kai 6dXao~o~a €VL } To. Aoyos 7rap AOrjvaiiDv IlocretSecova re kcu 
'AOrjvairjv epcVavra? 7rept t^s x^Pys H a pTvpia 6e<rdai. tolvtyjv (dv ttjv iXaLrjv 
afjca T<a aAAa> ioa> Ka.TeXa.f3e ip.Trpr)crOr}va.L inro tuv /3apj3dpu)v ' Sevreprj Se 
ffpcepr) oltto rrjs i/jLTrprjaios ' KBrjvaioiv oi Ovew vtto /3ao~iAeos KeXev6p.evou ws 
avefirjo-av e? to ipov, wpwv fiXacrTov ck toij creAe^eo? oow re Trr^^yalov dva- 
SeSpapirjKOTa. — Herodotus, VIII. 55. 

The tale of the sacred olive of Athena, and how it 
sent forth a shoot a cubit long but two days after it had 
been burnt by the Persians, may be taken as symbolical 
of the new growth of Attic art, that hastened to re- 
place by nobler architecture and sculpture all that had 
perished at the hands of the invader. We have already 
seen how the walls of the Acropolis were renewed, and 
its outline extended to the symmetrical shape that 
formed a fitting frame for the treasures of art that 
it was to enshrine. When the Athenians returned to 
their desecrated citadel, they probably found but little 
left of the temples and statues that had stood upon it. 
And that little they made no attempt to restore or to 
preserve : some of it they buried, to fill up the enlarged 
terrace of the Acropolis ; some of it they built into the 

208 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 209 

walls — notably the entablature and columns of the 
peristyle which Pisistratus had added to the chief tem- 
ple of Athena. The first necessity was to provide the 
necessary accommodation for the sacrifices and other 
rites of the state. But we must remember that a temple 
was by no means the most essential thing for this pur- 
pose. Certain survivors of the Athenians — the same 
who told the tale about the sprouting of the sacred 
olive — had been ordered by Xerxes to perform the 
customary sacrifices immediately after the sack of the 
Acropolis ; and they seem to have found no difficulty 
in doing so. The great altar of Athena was in all 
probability a rough mass of rock, which could be dam- 
aged by no conflagration ; and all that was required 
for the due performance of a sacrifice was an altar and 
a precinct. Doubtless it was desirable also to provide 
a storehouse for the sacrificial vessels and implements, 
and, in time, for the sacred treasure which would soon 
begin to accumulate. But all this could be managed 
well enough with temporary buildings, and no immedi- 
ate inconvenience would be felt. We do not know 
what became of the ancient wooden image of Athena, 
or how it escaped destruction when the temple was 
burnt; but it certainly survived, and must have been 
provided with some temporary shrine ; but this may 
have been on a quite small scale. It is necessary to 
consider these conditions, because it is sometimes as- 
serted that the Athenians must have restored the Old 
Temple of Athena, without its peristyle, to meet the 



2io. ANCIENT ATHENS 

necessities of the state religion, and could not have 
waited without any great temple until the completion of 
a project that must have been expected to take many 
years. But, so long as a project for a more magnificent 
temple was in contemplation, the goddess might well be 
content that her old temple remained in ruins, since the 
regular worship in her honour was not hindered thereby. 
There is no sign in the extant remains to show that the 
early temple was ever restored; all its foundations 
remain below the level of the ground of the Acropolis 
after the Persian Wars ; and, with the absence of any 
cogent argument of probability or convenience, all rea- 
sons disappear for supposing that it was rebuilt after 
its destruction by the Persians. 1 But as soon as the 
pressing necessity of restoring the walls of their town 
had been met, there is little doubt that the next thing 
they attempted was to build a larger and more beautiful 
temple to the patron goddess of their city. The bold 
scheme that commended itself to them for this purpose 
is worthy to have been originated by Themistocles him- 
self, and all probability, though nothing of positive 
evidence, may be adduced in favour of the attribution. 
Instead of building the new temple where the old one 
had stood, or even choosing the highest conveniently 
level platform of the rock of the Acropolis, they selected 
a new and more commanding position, farther to the 

1 The evidence from inscriptions and other documents, put together with great 
ingenuity by Professor Dorpfeld in Mittheil. Ath. XII. and XV., is completely disposed 
of by Mr. Frazer,/.//.5. XIII. 156; and Pans. II. p. 553. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 211 

south; and as the rock failed them over half of this 
site, they decided to erect an enormous substructure to 
carry the new temple ; in some parts of its southern side 
this substructure is as high as forty feet above the rock. 
In order to facilitate its construction, they built a rough 
supporting wall about thirty to forty feet away from 
its southern face; and as they added courses to the 
substructure, they filled up the space between it and the 
wall with earth and other rubbish, so as to have a solid 
ground to work on, and to save the necessity for a 
scaffolding. What they used to fill in this space be- 
tween the wall and the substructure was, to a great extent, 
the debris of sculpture and architecture from the temples 
destroyed by the Persians, either on the Acropolis or in 
the town below ; and it is from this place that much of 
the contents of the Acropolis Museum has been derived. 
The end of the wall may still be seen in a pit left for 
the purpose after the recent excavations, nearly opposite 
the western end of the Parthenon. Here it rests on 
a piece of the early Pelasgic wall, and a rough staircase 
is visible, evidently intended for the use of the work- 
men. The supporting wall was only for temporary use, 
and was never meant to show; it was buried deep below 
the ground when Cimon built the south wall of the 
Acropolis from the spoils of the battle of the Euryme- 
don, in 468 B.C. 

For some reason the great temple was never finished 
according to its original design. The substructure was, 
however, practically completed, and the steps of the 



212 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



temple were set in position on the top of it, and partially 
cut out of the living rock at the east end. Some of the 
drums of the columns were also prepared of Pentelic 
marble ; indeed, this is the first clear example we have of 

the use of the ma- 
terial that was soon 
to become so famous. 
How much more was 
done we cannot tell, 
but it seems evident 
that the scheme was 
abandoned before the 
actual building of 
the temple had made 
much progress. We 
can only conjecture 
the reason for this 
proceeding, but there 
is much probability in 
the suggestion of Pro- 
fessor Furtwangler 
that the scheme, being devised by Themistocles, natu- 
rally fell into disfavour at his disgrace and exile. After 
his ostracism, in 472 B.C., Cimon's influence became 
predominant in Athens, and with him more conservative 
views prevailed. It is true that he also contributed 
his share to the beautifying of the Acropolis, but, in ad- 
dition to the personal feeling against Themistocles and 
his projects, there may well have been a reaction against 




Rough Terrace Wall and Staircase 

South of Parthenon. 

Pelasgic wall below. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 213 

so complete a shifting of the position of the chief temple 
of Athena. In addition to building the south wall of the 
Acropolis, Cimon probably added the steps that led down 
through the north wall above the cave of Aglauros ; and 
he also built a portico along this north wall just to the 
east of the steps, and terraced up the level of the ground 
here also, so as to match the more extensive changes of 
level that he had introduced in the southern part of 
the Acropolis. Whether he had any plans as to the 
great temple of Athena we have no evidence, but we 
can hardly imagine that the work begun by Themis- 
tocles would have been stopped unless some other 
project in honour of the goddess were substituted for 
it. It may be conjectured that Cimon's scheme was 
an anticipation of the Erechtheum, just as that of 
Themistocles was an anticipation of the Parthenon ; but, 
if so, it has left no traces behind it. The ten years 
during which his power lasted were, however, so full 
of activity at home and abroad that he may well have 
had little opportunity for building the temple. By 
completing the walls of the Acropolis with the spoils 
of his victory over the Persians, he was fitting it to be 
that perfect dedication to the goddess that it was con- 
sidered in later times; and there is another work almost 
certainly to be attributed to him, which 'was always 
among its most conspicuous monuments. This was 
the colossal bronze statue of Athena, which stood in 
the open a little way behind the Propylaea; it is said 
to have been dedicated from a tithe of the spoils of 




2i 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Marathon ; and it was appropriate for Cimon thus to 
set up a great memorial of the victory of his father 
Miltiades. But it may well have had a more general 
reference to the Persian Wars ; the Athenians were 
always fond of taking their own great victory of Mara- 
thon as typical of the whole struggle. The statue has 
yet another interest for us, for it is the first recorded 
work of the sculptor Phidias. The foundation of the 
pedestal on which it stood may still be seen ; it is most 
conspicuous in the views of the Acropo- 
lis that appear on late coins, and Pau- 
sanias tells us that the helmet and the 
tip of the spear — which were probably 
overlaid w T ith gold — could be seen from 

Athenian Coin. 

r A ,. the sea by any one approaching from 

View oi Acropolis, J J L L ° 

showing stairs, the direction of Sunium. The statue 

cave, Propyl aea, 

colossal statue, may perhaps be identical with one that 

and Parthenon. . . _ 

was destroyed in a not at Constanti- 
nople in 1203 a.d., having been carried off from Athens 
and set up in the Forum of Constantine; and of this 
latter statue we have a rather rhetorical description 
by the Byzantine historian Nicetas. It was thirty feet 
high, and drapery and statue alike were of bronze. 
The right hand of the goddess, which was otherwise 
restored in the figure at Constantinople, must origi- 
nally have rested on her spear; her left hand held 
together the folds of her drapery; she also had an 
aegis with a Gorgon's head, falling from her shoulders 
oyer her breast; the head and face were turned slightly 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 215 

to the right. What Nicetas appears to have admired 
most was the grace and suppleness of the whole figure, 
the unrivalled beauty of the neck, which was long and 
bare, and of the tresses that showed over the forehead 
on either side of the helmet ; incidentally, he mentions 
also that the veins were clearly rendered. With the 
help of this description, a type of Athena of which 
some examples exist in our museums has been iden- 
tified as derived, more or less directly, from the colossal 
bronze statue of Phidias ; though far removed from 
their original, they give us some notion of the sim- 
plicity and dignity of conception that distinguished it. 1 
When Cimon was ostracised, in 461 B.C., he left the 
Acropolis terraced up and walled much as we see it 
now; but within it the great bronze Athena of Phidias 
probably kept watch over little but temporary store- 
houses and unfinished buildings. The first few years 
of Pericles' predominance in Athenian affairs do not 
seem to have been marked by any great architectural 
changes in the Acropolis. Probably he was occupied 
with political affairs at home and abroad ; the greatest 
visible achievement of this time was the construction 
of the Long Walls from the Piraeus to Athens, begun 
in 460 B.C. In this matter he was, in a certain sense, 
following and completing the policy of Themistocles, 
who had even gone so far as to advocate the migra- 

1 The statue is sometimes called Athena Promachos, but there is no early authority 
for the name, which properly belongs to a quite different type of the goddess, rushing 
forward to lead her followers into battle. 



216 ANCIENT ATHENS 

tion of the Athenians from Athens to the Piraeus, in 
order to facilitate and confirm their naval supremacy. 
But Pericles could not have been content with such 
a scheme. He was occupied in developing that ideal 
Athens of which a masterly sketch is given in the 
speeches that Thucydides has put into his mouth. 
And this ideal city required, for its material counter- 
part, a sacred citadel, rich in religious and historic 
associations ; if Athens was to be a liberal education 
to Greece, then its Acropolis must show all that was 
best in Greek sculpture and architecture. When 
Athens reached the zenith of her power, the Persian 
terror was felt no more ; her fleet alone sufficed for 
a guarantee against any danger to the freedom of 
Hellas ; and the treasure of the confederacy of Delos, 
originally intended as a protection against Persia, 
had been transferred to her keeping. While she was 
thus fulfilling her destiny as the champion of Greece 
against the barbarian, it was the aim of Pericles to 
vindicate for her a still prouder claim, and to make 
her practically the artistic and religious capital of 
Greece. Accordingly all the Greeks were summoned 
to meet in Athens, and to concert measures for re- 
storing the fallen temples of the gods, as a thank-offer- 
ing for their deliverance from the Persian invasion. 
The summons met with little or no response in the 
Peloponnese ; but the members of the Delian confed- 
eracy had to a great extent become the tributaries 
rather than the equal allies of Athens, and their com- 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 217 

mon treasure was devoted to the adornment of 
the Athenian Acropolis. Pericles called to his aid the 
sculptor Phidias, who had the chief direction of the 
work ; with him were associated the architects Calibra- 
tes and Ictinus ; and the people voted an expendi- 
ture that insured a rapid progress with the buildings 




View from near Temple of Nike. 
In front, Pelasgic wall; on right, Propylaea; in distance, sea and Salamis. 

which arose to fill the splendid frame that was pro- 
vided by the victories and the munificence of Cimon. 
The first of these buildings to be begun — though 
not probably the first to be finished — was the little 
temple of the Wingless Victory, or, to speak more 
accurately, of Athena Nike, which stands on the bastion 
to the south of the entrance to the Acropolis. An 
inscription, dating probably from about 450 B.C., has 



218 ANCIENT ATHENS 

recently been found, ordering the construction of a 
gate, a temple, and an altar of marble, according to 
the specifications of the architect Callicrates. The 
temple was seen still standing by Wheler, when he 
visited Greece in 1676; but it was soon after pulled 
to pieces and built into a Turkish bastion. Some of 
the slabs of its frieze were brought to London by 
Lord Elgin; and in 1835 the bastion was demolished, 
and the stones of the temple recovered and put to- 
gether again on their original foundations by Ross, 
Schaubert, and Hansen ; only a few portions had to be 
replaced by new pieces of marble ; the missing slabs 
of the frieze were replaced by terra-cotta casts from 
the originals in the British Museum. The style of 
this frieze is difficult to reconcile with the early date 
at which the inscription has shown the building of 
the temple to have been ordered, and so it is prob- 
able that the completion of the temple, or at least the 
carving of the frieze, was postponed until after the Par- 
thenon and the Propylaea had been built. Though the 
temple, as now restored, is rather patchy and ill-jointed 
when seen from near, it shows the same distant effect 
that it originally produced, and the visitor to Athens 
to-day, as in the fifth century, is still impressed by 
the grace of this little Ionic building, standing just 
in front of the great entrance to the Acropolis. It is 
interesting to know that the first building that one 
sees in approaching the Acropolis was also the first 
of the works projected by Pericles. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 



219 



In 447 bx., the work within the Acropolis was 
definitely begun, and, as valuable materials began to 
accumulate for the buildings to be erected, a practical 
necessity was a guard-house or police station, where three 
TotjoTai could be stationed to prevent fugitive slaves or 
thieves from entering the Acropolis. Such a guard-house 




Propyl.^a from Nike Bastion in Turkish Times. 
From Stuart's Antiquities of Athens, 

was accordingly ordered, again to the specification of 
Callicrates, who evidently was employed as architect to 
the state at this time, for he had also supervised the 
building of the Long Walls. At the same time the Par- 
thenon itself, as we now know it, was begun in the place 
of the earlier temple, which had never advanced very 
far toward completion. The great substructure that 



220 ANCIENT ATHENS 

had been proposed for it was not indeed wasted ; but it 
was not to be imagined that architects like Ictinus and 
Callicrates, to whom the design of the new temple was 
entrusted, would be likely to content themselves with 
the proportions that had been laid down by a prede- 
cessor. We do not know how the work was divided 
between them ; but in all probability the perfection of 
the design is due to Ictinus, who wrote a book about the 
building, and was the more original and probably the 
younger of the two ; Callicrates was associated with him 
because of his experience in the execution of great con- 
tracts for the Athenian state. The substructure was 
intended for a long and narrow temple, such as was cus- 
tomary in an earlier age. The temple designed by 
Ictinus was about fifteen feet shorter, and about six feet 
wider, and so gives exactly the proportion of length to 
breadth in the ratio of 9 : 4, which is far more symmetri- 
cal and pleasing to the eye. At the western end it was 
built so that its lowest step coincided in plan with the 
edge of the earlier substructure ; and consequently the 
substructure projects at the eastern end the whole fifteen 
feet. To gain the additional width, it was necessary to 
enlarge the substructure on the north, where it rests 
almost immediately on the rock. The join in the work 
can easily be seen on the west face, where the piece 
built on by Ictinus consists of blocks of various sizes and 
materials, and evidently was not intended to be visible. 
This piece on the north was, however, made a little 
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THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 



221 



of the temple, and the southern step of the temple was 
set a little back from the edge of the substructure, prob- 
ably in order to arrange that the walls and rows of 
columns and other heavy masses of the new temple 
should be placed, as far as practicable, where the founda- 
tions had been strengthened to carry the weight of the 
corresponding parts of the old temple. 




North End of West Front of Parthenon. 

Showing added portion of the substructure, the step of the earlier design visible on 

the right. 

The details of the Parthenon itself, both in architec- 
ture and in sculpture, must be reserved for a special 
chapter; here we are more concerned with its history 
and use. It was completed, at least so far as the main 
structure was concerned, by the year 438 b.c ; for then 
the great gold and ivory statue of Athena, that stood 
within it, was dedicated ; but the decoration and finish- 
ing of details was still going on in 433 b.c, for we have 



222 ANCIENT ATHENS 

an inscription of that date referring to the work as still 
in progress. In 435 b.c. an important decree was passed, 
regulating the financial administration of the sacred and 
public moneys of Athens, including the Delian treasure. 
Among other things, it is enacted in this decree that the 
treasures shall be kept in the Opisthodomus, that of 
Athena being deposited on the right-hand side, and that 
of the other gods on the left-hand side ; that the two 
boards of officials who are respectively responsible for 
these funds shall open and seal together the doors of the 
Opisthodomus ; and that inventories and audits shall be 
made periodically both of these treasures and of other 
sacred property, and shall be inscribed upon stelae set up 
in the Acropolis. Accordingly, we find from this time 
onward numerous inscriptions, some, of them dealing 
with the audit of the treasures in the Opisthodomus, 
some with the inventories of the objects dedicated in the 
Prodomus, the Hecatompedos Neos, and the Parthenon ; 
we actually possess these last three lists, continuous 
from year to year for some time, beginning with 433 B.C., 
the year after the decree just mentioned ; and although 
we do not possess any record of the audit of the moneys 
in the Opisthodomus earlier than 418 b.c, there can be 
no reasonable doubt that they began in the same year 
as the others. A clear inference from these facts is that 
the Opisthodomus in question is the Opisthodomus of the 
Parthenon, which practically served, from the time of 
the completion of the building, as the public and sacred 
treasury or bank of Athens; it was, as we. shall see in 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 223 

the next chapter, admirably adapted to the purpose. 
Before the Parthenon was ready to be used, the sacred 
treasures were probably housed in some of the temporary 
buildings that have already been mentioned ; one of these 
is described in an inscription as being in the enclosure 
to the south 1 of the ancient temple of Athena in the 
Acropolis. 

The Parthenon served, then, as a storehouse for the 
innumerable votive offerings dedicated to the goddess, 
so far as they were too precious or too fragile to leave 
in the open, and also as the bank of the Athenian state 
and of the Delian confederation. But its chief purpose 
was to afford a fitting house to the great gold and 
ivory statue of Athena Parthenos, and also, in itself, 
to summarise and represent all that was best in Athe- 
nian religion. There is no doubt that the intention 
of Pericles and his associates, in this and in other 
matters, was not only artistic, but also, in the highest 
sense, religious ; but we know that they cared for the 
spirit more than for the letter, and that their more 
narrow-minded and formalist contemporaries accused 
them of sacrilege and atheism. The Parthenon was 
their crowning work ; but we must remember that it 
had little, if any, direct relation to the orthodox and 
official worship of the state. The ancient wooden 
image still remained the visible idol of the goddess 

1 vbrodev is the generally accepted restoration. Even if we read with Dorpfeld 
OTTLadev, the sense is similar ; a building in an enclosure behind a temple cannot 
mean the Opisthodomus of that temple. For a summary of the whole question, see 
Frazer, I. pp. 556, 561. 



224 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and the centre of all state ceremonies; and it still 
remained without a worthy temple. In all probability 
Pericles had intended to transfer it to the Parthenon, 
even if he could not succeed in substituting for it the 
masterpiece of Phidias ; but in this, as in other matters, 
he was defeated by the religious conservatism of his 
opponents, and his magnificent scheme for the honour 
of the goddess had, in one way, only succeeded in 
prolonging her homeless state. 

After the completion of the Parthenon, the next 
undertaking of Pericles, begun in 437 B.C., was to 
provide the Acropolis with an entrance in harmony 
with the beauty of its walls and with the splendour 
of the temple that crowned it. We have seen that 
his first project was to build the little temple of Athena 
Nike on the bastion that flanked the entrance ; his 
last was to erect the Propylaea ; and the building 
itself, even in its present state, affords the clearest 
testimony to the political and religious difficulties 
that again thwarted his scheme. It is evidently in- 
complete in some respects; and Professor Dorpfeld 
has, by the most ingenious and convincing observa- 
tions, recovered the original plan, and shown how and 
why it had to be curtailed. The plan, as first devised 
by the architect Mnesicles, was as follows. There was 
to be a great covered hall, divided into three aisles 
by rows of Ionic columns, leading up to five great 
doors of entrance, graduated in size, the central one 
corresponding to the central aisle. Beyond the doors, 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 225 

toward the inside of the Acropolis, and also at the 
entrance of the hall, facing outwards, there was to be 
a portico of six Doric columns. The outer portico was 
to be flanked by two wings, projecting at right angles, 
and supported in front by three smaller columns and 
an anta at the end ; behind each wing was to be a great 




The Propyl^ea from South Wing. 
On left, temple of Nike; in middle, pedestal of Agrippa. 

square chamber, that on the north side entirely walled 
in, that on the south side opening by a colonnade 
on to the bastion with the temple of Nike. The great 
portico that faced inward toward the Acropolis was also 
to be flanked by two porticoes of smaller columns, set 
parallel to it but a little farther back, and extending the 
whole breadth of the rock. These porticoes were to 



226 ANCIENT ATHENS 

form the front of great halls, which backed against the 
projecting wings of the outer front. A glance at the 
plan of the Acropolis will show the objections to which 
this bold and original scheme was open. The south- 
eastern hall would not only have occupied a large 
portion of the sacred precinct of Artemis Brauronia, 
but would have necessitated a very extensive cutting 
away of the rock of the Acropolis ; indeed, if it were 
to have its proper effect, as seen from within the 
Acropolis, it would have been necessary to level away 
the whole of the Brauronian precinct. Again, the 
south-western wing and the hall behind it would have 
encroached considerably on the precinct of Athena 
Nike, and could not have been completed without 
demolishing her altar. Under these circumstances we 
cannot but wonder, not that such a project should 
have met with strenuous and successful opposition from 
religious conservatism, but that any architect should 
have had the audacity to propose a design which 
involved such rude desecration of some of the most 
ancient sacred places in Athens. We can only suppose 
that Mnesicles relied on the continued predominance 
of Pericles' authority to carry through his plans; for 
Pericles at least, and probably Phidias, too, must have 
approved of it. Possibly they may have had their own 
reasons for discrediting the worship of Artemis Brau- 
ronia, whom, with her bear dances and other relics of 
primitive savagery, they may have thought unworthy 
to share the honours of Athena upon her chosen hill. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 227 

The plan of Mnesicles had to be curtailed, and the 
Propylsea, though the pride of Athens and the admira- 
tion of all subsequent ages, remained in more than one 
sense unfinished. Not only were the religious object- 
ions maintained against certain portions of its extent, 




Propyl,^, from the East. 



but even what could be carried out never received a 
smooth finish either in walls or pavement; a rough 
panel is left projecting over most of these, spaces being 
smoothed to the final surface only at the corners and 
around the bases of columns. Outside the building, 
even the rough projections left to help the masons to 
get the blocks into position without chipping them 
may still be seen. These last signs of incompleteness 
are probably due to the fact that the building was 
still unfinished when, in 432 B.C., the outbreak of the 
Peloponnesian War diverted the Athenians from their 
architectural activity. But no such explanation will 



228 ANCIENT ATHENS 

account for the other abnormal features of the building. 
All that could be carried out was the central hall, with 
the five doorways, and the porticoes on each front, the 
north-west wing, and a portion of the south-west. Yet 
Mnesicles, although he must have been aware, while 
the building was going on, that he would not be allowed 
to carry out the rest of his plan, seems to have refused 
to alter the specification for these parts of the building 
in any detail, though they contained many features 
that are inexplicable in themselves, and can only be 
understood in relation to the missing portions. For 
example, the antae that face north and south, near 
either end of the great eastern portico, are at present 
meaningless; they could have no purpose but to carry 
the end of an architrave running above the column 
fronts of the projected north-eastern and south-eastern 
halls. Nor are such features restricted to the ground 
plan, which, being laid out at the beginning, might 
have been difficult to modify later. High up in the 
walls are holes to carry the roof beams of the projected 
halls, and even an ornamental moulding is deflected, 
so as to allow for the slope of their roof. All these 
things show either that Mnesicles continued to hope 
against hope that the opposition to his design would 
be withdrawn or overcome by a new accession of the 
influence of Pericles in the state ; or else that he must 
have clung obstinately to all that he could execute of 
the original plan, perhaps in the hope that some later 
generation would complete what he had begun, possibly 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 



229 



even with prophetic foresight that some architect of 
the remote future might recover from such scanty 
indications the grand design in which he took so much 
pride. 

The problem of the south-western wing is more com- 
plicated; but here Professor Dorpfeld's conjecture as 




PROPYL^EA FROM THE NORTH-EAST. 
Showing unfinished work, and indications of projected north-east hall. 

to the original plan of Mnesicles and its modification 
in execution fits the actual remains with an accuracy so 
remarkable as to carry conviction. This wing, as it 
stood throughout classical times, consisted of a rec- 
tangular hall, of which the east and south sides were 
continuous walls ; but the south-east corner, where these 
walls join, is cut off obliquely, so as to be set as close 



230 ANCIENT ATHENS 

as possible on to the Pelasgic wall. The north face 
of this wing corresponded exactly to the south face of 
the north-western wing, consisting of three columns set 
between antae ; but this correspondence was produced 
in a very curious way. The roof of the - hall did not 
extend beyond the third column, and its western edge 
was supported by a beam which rested on this column, 
and was carried on to the west end of the southern 
wall by the help of an intervening pillar. Thus the 
western anta of the north face is an irrational excres- 
cence ; it is merely added to make a sham front of the 
width required. Such a device is unparalleled in Greek 
architecture, and is utterly unworthy in one of the most 
beautiful buildings in design and execution that have 
ever existed. Its immediate purpose is, of course, to 
obtain apparent symmetry in the front view of the 
Propylasa ; but we cannot suppose that Mnesicles would 
have attained the result in this extraordinary way if 
he had not been led to do so by the motives already 
suggested — either a hope of ultimately completing the 
building, or a spirit of indignant protest, one might 
almost say of pique, against the mutilation of his 
design. That the former explanation is the correct 
one in this case is practically demonstrated by the 
position of the south wall of this wing. As we have 
seen, the original plan contemplated a wing in this 
position corresponding in dimension with the north-west 
wing, but opening by a colonnade on to the bastion 
of Nike. The simplest way to have abridged this plan, 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 231 

if its complete execution proved impossible, would have 
been to make the south-west wing correspond exactly 
with the front portion or vestibule of the north-west 
wing, omitting the square hall behind it; but this is 
not done, though it would have had the additional 
advantage of not encroaching on the Pelasgian wall 
at the south-east corner. The motive for placing the 
south wall where it is must be the folio win £. As we 
possess all the stones of the south anta, and may 
assume that' the intercolumniation of the western face 
was intended to be the same as that of the northern, 
we can ascertain exactly the position where the columns 
of the western face w T ere to be placed ; and it appears 
that the south wall would have stood exactly opposite 
to the second of them. It follows that the wall was 
placed here so as to harmonise with the original scheme 
if it should ever be carried out ; and although in this 
one case we find Mnesicles introducing a modification 
into the practicable part of his complete design, we see 
that the modification is such as to confirm the opinion 
that he built all that he was allowed to build in direct 
relation to his larger plan. 

In its details the building shows as great beauty and 
originality as in its general design. Perhaps the most 
striking feature in it is the use of black Eleusinian 
limestone * to vary the white Pentelic marble of which 

1 Sometimes incorrectly called bla-k marble. It is not of crystalline texture, but 
is merely a darker variety of the bhe limestone of the Acropolis at Athens. The 
Greek word \L0os is of course usee, for both stone and marble. 



232 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



it is mainly constructed. The full effect of tfy,^ choice 
of materials is difficult to realise now that both have 
weathered to to'.'es that may scarcely be distinguished 
from one another by a casual observer ; when both 
were freshly cut, the contrast must have been as striking 
as in the black and white marble of a Tuscan church. 

The black lime- 
stone is used in 
the central hall 
for a dado along 
botlv side walls, 
reaching up to 
the level of the 
top step or the 
sill of the doors, 
which is also of 
the same mate- 
rial ; it also oc- 
curs as a kind of 
sill course below 
the windows and 
the door in the 
north - western 
wing, and as the 
bottom step of both the western projecting wings. The 
columns and entablatures of the Doric order are similar 
to those of the Parthenon ; the Ionic capitals of the 
internal columns, though fragmentary, are the most per- 
fect in form that are known. They are of the simpler 




Propyl^a: Side Aisle of Central Hall. 

Two of the doors and steps visible. Ionic columns on 
right; on left, dado of black Eleusinian stone. 



Contmuous frieze 



Architrave, divided 
into three bands 



Capital ; vorutes and 
channel between 
them plain 



Shaft, with flat bands 
between flutings 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 233 

Ionic t^pe, with 

a broad channel 

running across 
the top and simple 
^olutes, and the 
fluting of the col- 
umns continues 
right up to the 
projecting mould- 
ing that crowns 
the shaft, with no 
intervening band 
of ornament. In 
these respects the 
Ionic capitals of 
the Propylaea dif- 
fer from the more 

elaborate and Ionic Capitals of Propylaea and Erechtheum. 

decorated columns of the Erechtheum. But the out- 
line of their volutes has a subtlety and precision that 
are unequalled. It is the same with the work in 
detail throughout; the joints, wherever the surface is 
finished, are so perfect as almost to have grown 
together; so that the whole building, unfinished and 
damaged as it is, must in many ways be considered 
the most perfect example of Greek architecture that 
we possess. It has been doubted whether the absence 
of sculpture from the pediments and metopes of the 
Propylaea is another result of the interruption of the 




Square pedestal, 
sometimes omitted 



234 ANCIENT ATHENS 

work, or is to be attributed to design ; most probably 
the latter explanation is the true one. The position 
and use of the building favour simplicity, and its whole 
composition depends upon a combination of purely 
architectural lines which would lose in effect by the 
addition of sculptural decoration. 

The completion of the temple of Athena Nike, and of 
the bastion upon which it stood, was a necessary adjunct 
to the building of the Prc>pylaea ; we have, however, no 
evidence of the exact date when this was done. The 
order for the erection of the temple was, as we have seen, 
passed about 450 B.C. The chief reason for believing 
that it was not finished until considerably later lies in the 
sculpture of the frieze of the temple, and of the balustrade 
that surrounded the bastion. These we must consider 
later ; at present it concerns us to note that, while it is per- 
haps possible to assign them to a date earlier than the out- 
break of the Peloponnesian War, it is more probable that 
they were not made until some years later ; perhaps they 
belong to the brief revival of religious and architectural 
activity that followed the Peace of Nicias. In addition 
to the completion of the temple and the balustrade, the 
work included the casing of the north side of the bas- 
tion with a veneer of marble, doubtless to make it 
match the marble structure of the Propylasa; the holes 
of the tenons for securing the marble slabs can still be 
seen. The slabs were probably cut to resemble courses 
of blocks of the usual size, just as the Piraic limestone of 
Cimon's wall, to which they are affixed, is cut to imitate 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 235 

the regular structure of the rest of the wall, where it 
is in reality only a thin facing to cover the rough blocks 
of the Pelasgic wall behind. It is a curious coincidence 
that, in this bastion and the wing of the Propylaea imme- 
diately above it, the exigencies of situation or other con- 
ditions should have driven the builders repeatedly to use 




Bastion and Temple of Nike from the North. 

devices which appear at first sight unworthy of the 
simplicity and honesty of Greek architecture. 

Though the Parthenon was probably intended by its 
builders to replace the old temple of Athena, destroyed 
by the Persians, as the chief centre of the state worship 
of Athens, the intention was never carried out, owing 
probably to a feeling of religious conservatism. The 



236 ANCIENT ATHENS 

ancient image of Athena, and the rites of which it was 
the object, thus remained without any adequate architec- 
tural provision, even after the most beautiful temple of 
antiquity had been built in the honour of the goddess. 
It would naturally devolve upon those who opposed the 
transference of the official cult from the ancient site to 
see that this deficiency should continue no longer to 
exist ; and as it was Pericles and the war party that had 
been mainly concerned with the building of the Parthe- 
non, the peace party, under the leadership of Nicias, 
may probably be credited with the project of building 
the Erechtheum, upon the actual site where the sacred 
symbols of Athena and Posidon were to be seen. Their 
opportunity for doing this most probably came when the 
Peace of Nicias, in 421 B.C., gave the Athenians a brief 
respite from the stress of the war. It is not known 
whether there was any earlier temple on the spot where 
the Erechtheum afterward stood ; there are no visible 
rock-cut foundations or other traces of such a building ; 
and it is perhaps more probable that the sacred well, the 
trident-mark, and the olive were originally out of doors in 
the precinct of the old temple of Athena, of which the 
foundations still remain, and not within any building at 
all ; the olive, indeed, always remained outside in the Pan- 
droseum. The work on the Erechtheum, after making 
considerable progress toward completion, appears to have 
been abandoned under the pressure of political and mili- 
tary disasters. But in 409 B.C., after the victory of Cyzicus 
had restored the naval supremacy of Athens and the 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 237 




Erechtheum from the South-east. 
In front, fallen columns of Parthenon. 

renewed democracy had established order at home, it was 
resolved to appoint a commission to survey the state of 
the building, in order to note what was still required for 
its completion. We fortunately possess both the report 
of this commission and the accounts of the work that was 
consequently undertaken. From them we learn that 
almost the whole structure of the building was already 
standing before the commission began its work, and that 
many of the stones not yet in position were lying ready, or 
nearly ready, on the ground. 1 All that was left to do was 

1 Thus there was too little work left to admit of Professor Bury's suggestion 
(History of Greece, p. 498) that Cleophon started it to employ the indigent. Even 
if it were not so, the kind of labour required for the Erechtheum was far too skilled 
to be of any use to "the unemployed," except, perhaps, the making up of the terrace 
to the south and east of it. 



23S ANCIENT ATHENS 

to complete the top courses and roof, to flute most of the 
columns, to carve some of the ornamental mouldings, to 
give the final polish to the surface of the walls, and to 
carve the sculpture of the frieze. This work was proba- 
bly completed during the following year ; but in 406 e.g. 
we are informed by Xenophon that the ancient temple 
on the Acropolis was set on fire. This passage is gen- 
erally supposed to refer to the Erechtheum, which 
though but recently finished may well be supposed to 
have taken, in popular speech, the name of the old tem- 
ple which it replaced ; 1 its official name was " the temple 
containing the old statue." We cannot tell how much 
damage was done by the fire, but it is unlikely that it 
destroyed the building entirely, any more than a fire in 
the Opisthodomus of the Parthenon, which happened 
sometime after the archonship of Euclides, destroyed 
the Parthenon. In this latter case the officials who 
were mainly concerned about the fire were the treasurers 
of the moneys kept there. So, too, in the Erechtheum, 
the damage may have been mainly to the contents of the 
temple, though it is probable that some injury may 
have been done to the roof and to the wooden fittings, 
and it is very probable that the engaged columns of the 
western end may have been so charred that, although 

1 The only other alternative is to refer the passage to the older temple, and sup- 
pose its cella was rebuilt after its destruction by the Persians. In addition to the 
obvious objection that if still standing in 406 B.C., it would have completely hidden 
the Caryatid Porch, we may note here that the chief purpose of restoring it would 
have been to give shelter to the old statue; and, if so, that statue would not have 
been already transferred to the Erechtheum in 409 B.C., when that building was still 
unfinished. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 239 

not requiring to be replaced immediately, they subse- 
quently decayed and had to be renewed in Roman times. 
The damage was not repaired immediately, as Athens 
was already in the final throes of the Peloponnesian 
War ; but an inscription * of 395-394 b.c, which almost 
certainly refers to these repairs, mentions that some of 
the damage to be made good was on the side of the 
Pandroseum, where these engaged columns stood; there 
are also signs of repair in the lintel of the great north 
doorway, which might easily have been cracked by a fire 
in the western end of the building. With the exception 
of these details, we may probably assume, in spite of the 
fire, that the building which we may still see on the 
Acropolis is the same that was erected by the Athenians 
during the intervals of the Peloponnesian War. The 
extreme crispness and clearness of the work in detail 
is an indication of a fifth-century rather than a fourth- 
century origin. But we must reserve our considera- 
tion of these details for their special chapter. Here 
we are concerned only with the history of the Erech- 
theum, w 7 hich concludes, so far as we know it, the 
architectural history of the Acropolis during the fifth 
century. 

We should, however, form a very inadequate notion of 
the appearance of the Acropolis at the close of the fifth 
century, if we confined our attention to the temples and 
other buildings that stood upon it. All the numerous 
votive offerings of an earlier age had also been broken 

1 CIA. II. 829. 



240 ANCIENT ATHENS 

or destroyed by the Persians, and the Athenians, on 
their return, did not trouble to repair them, but buried 
them to form part of the rubbish that terraced up the 
Acropolis. The only recorded exception is in the case 
of some statues of Athena, charred with fire, that were 
probably left to remind later generations of the Persian 
invasion, just as the smoke-blackened walls of some of 
the burnt temples were allowed to remain for the same 
purpose. Of the rest of the statues and other dedications 
seen by Pausanias when he visited Athens, the great 
majority were set up between the Persian Wars and the 
close of the fifth century. Of course he only professes 
to give a selection ; but those which appeared to him, 
and would probably also have appeared to us, the most 
interesting belonged mostly to this period. We are 
able, therefore, to draw up a fairly extensive list of the 
statues that were dedicated on the Acropolis in the fifth 
century ; in following this list we must allow ourselves 
the same right of selection that he allowed himself, and 
notice especially those of which, from Pausanias or other 
sources, we know more than the mere name. 

The first votive offering seen by Pausanias on mount- 
ing to the Acropolis was that of the Athenian knights, 
— two equestrian statues placed upon pedestals at the 
extreme corners of the wings of the Propylaea, on either 
side of the entrance. The bases of these statues have 
recently been recovered ; and as they have two inscrip- 
tions, which are set different ways upon the two sides of 
the basis, and also show signs of being recut at a later 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 241 

date, there is some difficulty in ascertaining their exact 
history. The inscriptions show that they were dedicated 
by the Athenian knights, from the spoil of a successful 
exploit in which their leaders were Lacedaemonius, 
probably the son of Cimon, Xenophon, possibly the 
grandfather 1 of the historian, and Pronapus. The date of 
this exploit must have been about the middle of the fifth 
century ; the statues were made by Lycius, the son of 
Myron. The hall that forms the back part of the north- 
western wing of the Propylaea was devoted to pictures. 2 
We have a list of their subjects, and Polemo is said to have 
written a whole treatise upon them; but now it is diffi- 
cult for us to realise what they were like. Some of them 
were by Polygnotus ; the subjects were mostly from 
heroic legend, episodes of the Trojan War, and Perseus 
with the head of Medusa. There was also a picture 
recording the victory of Alcibiades in the chariot-race 
at the Nemean games ; he was represented as seated 
in the lap of Nemea, and crowned also by personi- 
fications of the Olympian and Pythian festivals. This 
is a curious example of Greek allegory; but it is still 
more remarkable as showing the arrogance of. Alci- 
biades ; it is little to be wondered at that such a dedi- 

1 The name is not uncommon; but the names Xenophon and Gryllus seem to 
alternate in generations of the family; and Xenophon's interest in cavalry training 
and tactics may well be hereditary. The doubt expressed by Pausanias whether or 
no they are the sons of Xenophon, shows he must have jotted down on the spot the 
name Aevcxpuvros from the inscription, and forgotten, or not noticed, the context; 
unless, indeed, he recorded the mistake of an ignorant guide. 

2 The name Pinacotheke, given it in some modern works, has no ancient 
authority. 



242 ANCIENT ATHENS 

cation met with disapproval as " fit for a tyrant and con- 
trary to the law." 

Within the Propylaea were several statues. One 
of Hermes Propylaeus perhaps stood before the gate 
of the Acropolis much as the hermae stood before 
houses. It has been conjectured with some probability 
that he may have stood in one of the niches formed by 
the projecting antae on either side of the court of en- 
trance. A relief of the Graces, said to have been made 
by Socrates, was also shown here ; he is known to have 
been a sculptor in his youth, and such a relic of him 
might well have been preserved ; there is, however, no 
ground for the identification of this work in any extant 
representation of the subject ; it was valued, probably, 
for the sake of the author rather than for its artistic 
merit, and there are many examples of the type of 
various periods, some of them found in this region 
where there was probably an early shrine of the 
Graces. In the central hall of the Propylaea l was a 
bronze lioness made by the artist Amphicrates, and 
set up as a memorial of Leaena the courtesan. She 
was an associate of Harmodius and Aristogiton; but, 
though tortured to death by Hippias, she refused to 
disclose her knowledge of their plot. The Athenians, 
it is said, thinking her fortitude worthy of a monument, 

1 That the lioness, etc., were in the Propykea is an inference from the position 
of the statue of Athena Hygieia mentioned below. This would naturally be the first 
thing seen on emerging from the Propylaea; but is quite possible that all were to- 
gether inside the Acropolis, past the Propylaea, and that Pausanias saw them first 
before he turned back to look at the Athena, standing with her back to the columns 
of the front. It is impossible to decide this question. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 243 

but not deeming it fitting to dedicate a statue of such 
a person on the Acropolis, set up in memory of her a 
lioness without a tongue. Near by was a statue of 
Aphrodite by Calamis, dedicated by Callias ; the basis 
may still be seen, but it has been moved to the eastern 
front of the Propylaea. This was probably the statue 
known as the Sosandra, selected by Lucian to give to 
his statue of ideal beauty some of its most graceful 
features. " Then," he says, " the Sosandra and Calamis 
shall crown her with modest courtesy, and her smile 
shall be noble and unconscious as the Sosandra's, and 
the comely arrangement and order of her drapery shall 
come from the Sosandra, except that she shall have her 
head uncovered." The quaint grace of this statue 
must have charmed the late Greek critics, just as an 
early Italian painting charms us at the present day. 
Still in the Propylaea was another statue of which we 
almost certainly possess a representation on a vase, and, 
very probably, also a marble copy. This is a statue 
of the general Diitrephes, who was represented as 
wounded by arrows. What is probably the basis of 
this statue has been found, though not in situ ; its 
inscription shows that the Diitrephes in question 
was not, as Pausanias thought, the man who led 
the Thracian mercenaries in their brutal raid on 
Mycalessus in 413 B.C., but an earlier namesake, who 
fell in battle about 450 b.c. 1 The basis also tells us 

1 This is Furtwangler's suggestion {Masterpieces, p. 123), and is the most reason- 
able of the many hypotheses proposed. 



244 ANCIENT ATHENS 

that the sculptor was Cresilas, and it is extremely 
probable that this wounded Diitrephes was the famous 
" wounded and fainting man, in whom one can feel how 
little life is left." 1 On a lecythus of about the same 
period as the basis is a figure of a warrior, wounded 
with arrows, and staggering with his feet wide apart ; 
and Professor Furtwangler has pointed out that the 
torso of a wounded warrior at Naples, if its modern 
restoration be removed, corresponds very nearly with 
the position of the figure on the lecythus, and also 
with the marks upon the basis. The style, with its 
vigorous and lifelike study of a wounded figure, yet 
far removed from the more dramatic and pathological 
treatment of Pergamene art, is just what we should 
expect from Cresilas. It would seem that the death 
of Diitrephes, either from its circumstances or from 
the way in which it was treated by the sculptor, made 
a great impression on his contemporaries. 

Just beside the eastern front of the Propylaea there 
stands a basis, set against one of the columns, and bear- 
ing an inscription saying that the statue of Athena 
Hygieia which it bore was dedicated by the Athenians 
and made by the sculptor Pyrrhus. This statue was 
associated by tradition with an interesting story. It 
was said that one of the workmen employed on the 
Propylaea, 2 a favourite slave of Pericles, fell from the 



1 See Gardner's Handbook of Greek Sculpture, p. 318. 

2 There seems little reason to dispute the story because one variation says it was 
a temple on the Acropolis on which the man was employed. There are some other 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 



245 



building and was badly injured. But Athena appeared 
in a vision to Pericles and bade him make use of the 
herb parthenium, by the aid of which the man was 
cured ; and Pericles 
in gratitude set up 
a statue of Athena 
Hygieia on the spot. 
The peculiar posi- 
tion of the pedestal, 
backing against one 
of the columns of 
the Propylaea, har- 
monises well with 
the tale ; and the 
herb referred to, 
which is not what 
we call parthenium, 
but is known in 
modern Greek as 
avejxoyopTo and in 
Italian as erba de vento, grows freely on the Acropolis, 
and especially in this part of it. It is still popularly 
used for medicinal purposes. 1 A little way in front of 
the statue is an altar, which faced away from the 
statue, and is one of several indications that there was 
a shrine at this spot to Athena, as goddess of healing, 




Inscribed Basis of Statue of Athena Hygieia 

by Pyrrhus. 

At the foot of a column of the Propylaea. 



difficulties pointed out by Wolters in Mitth. Ath. 1891, p. 153; but on the whole the 
story seems well authenticated. 

1 I owe this information to Professor von Heldreich. 



246 ANCIENT ATHENS 

before the worship of Asclepius was introduced into 
Athens. 

Between this spot and the entrance of the precinct 
of Artemis Brauronia were many dedications, of which 
the sockets may still be seen cut in the rock. Among 
these were the Perseus of Myron, a famous work of 
which some copies have been identified — but with no 
great degree of probability — among extant statues; and 
a boy with a bowl of holy water, by Myron's son, 
Lycius. Lycius seems to have excelled in what may 
be called religious " genre " ; and this statue may prob- 
ably have had a practical use, as providing the holy 
water usually placed at the entrance of an ancient 
precinct, as of a modern Roman Catholic church, for 
symbolical ablution. It may have served this purpose 
for those entering the Brauronian precinct — or, possibly, 
for those entering the Acropolis itself. 

Beyond the steps that led up to the Brauronian pre- 
cinct, the main path led along the northern side of the 
Parthenon toward its eastern front, and was bordered on 
each side by rows of statues and other offerings. First 
came a colossal bronze image of the wooden horse of 
Troy, by the sculptor Strongylion — a work probably 
alluded to by Aristophanes in the Birds; 1 the Greeks 
were peeping out of its side, among them the Athenian 
heroes being naturally the most prominent. Then 
there was a statue of Epicharinus as a runner in the 
armed race ; a fine subject for Critius and Nesiotes, 

U. 1 128. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 247 

whose work we know in the Tyrannicides. Two other 
statues honoured the prowess of Hermolycus the Pan- 
cratiast, who was awarded the prize for the most dis- 
tinguished valour in the great victory over the Persians 
at Mycale, and of Phormio, whose brilliant naval vic- 
tories over greatly superior numbers off Naupactus 
form one of the most exciting episodes of the earlier 
years of the Peloponnesian War. Then there was an- 
other work of Myron's, of which we have several copies ; 
it represented Athena throwing away in disgust the 
flutes that had distorted her face, and the satyr Mar- 
syas, who, while approaching to pick them up, starts back 
in astonishment, perhaps at the goddess' indignation. 
The statue of Marsyas is second only to the Discobolus 
as an example of the sculptor's characteristic achieve- 
ment — the expression of violent motion as implied in 
the moment of rest that precedes or succeeds it. On 
the other side of the path l was a row of heroic subjects 
of which we have no very definite information — 
Theseus and the Minotaur, Phrixus sacrificing the 
Ram with the Golden Fleece, and the infant Heracles 
strangling the serpents. Then, about opposite the two 
ends of the Parthenon, were two groups that repro- 
duced the subjects that were treated in the two 
pediments of the building, — the birth of Athena from 
the head of Zeus, and the contest of Athena and Posi- 

1 Professor Dorpfeld has suggested (Mitth. Ath. XII. p. 53) an ingeniously sym- 
metrical arrangement of these offerings, from Pausanias' list ; it is rejected by 
Miss Harrison fp. 528, Note 68) on the ground that Pausanias purposes to give 
only a selection, not a complete list. 



2 4 8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

don for the land of Attica, she producing the sacred 
olive as her gift, and he a salt spring. Each of these 
groups seems to have been set, not opposite the pedi- 
ment with the same subject, but opposite to the other 
one. The second, at least, which is probably repro- 
duced on certain coins and a relief, varies considerably 
in treatment from the pediment: it represented Athena 
and Posidon standing in friendly colloquy, on either 
side of her olive tree. The historical relation of the 
groups to the pediments is not easy to establish ; but it 

seems improbable that after the comple- 
tion of the Parthenon and the universal 
acknowledgment of its perfection, vari- 
ants of its two chief groups of sculpture 
should have been set up beside it. It 
Athenian Coin. j s p erna p S more probable that they were 

Group of Athena, 1 . . . . . 

Posidon, olive alternative compositions tor the central 

tree, and snake. groups, prepared at the time, very likely 
in one of those competitions which we know to have been 
not uncommon on such occasions. It is a tempting sug- 
gestion that the tale of a competition between Phidias 
and Alcamenes for a statue of Athena to be set up 
above columns is to be referred to the models for the 
Parthenon pediments, and that the rejected designs 
of Alcamenes were set up on the Acropolis beside the 
Parthenon, as being worthy of preservation. 1 Close by 
was another work of Alcamenes, Procne with her child 

1 I am not sure if this rather obvious suggestion has been made by any one else ; 
it is hinted at in my Handbook of Sculpture, p. 311. 




THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 249 

Itys. This work is perhaps preserved to us in a statue 
of a draped female figure with a boy leaning against 
her, which was found on the Acropolis and may still 
be seen there. 1 The style of the statue is in accordance 
with what we know of Alcamenes, though the execution 
is hardly such as we should expect in an original by 
one of the great masters of antiquity. A work by 
another of the companions of Phidias, Clecetas, was 
noted for the delicacy of its finish ; it represented a 
helmeted man, and the finger-nails were inlaid with 
silver. Clecetas was evidently one of the most skilful 
craftsmen of his time, for he was also employed to make 
the gold and ivory table that held the wreaths for the 
victors at Olympia. To the north-west of the Par- 
thenon, near the great altar of Athena, was the statue of 
Zeus Polieus, — an archaic, striding figure, as we learn 
from coins, — and the altar of the god, which was the 
centre of the strange ceremony of the sacrifice at the 
Dipolia. On this occasion, those who had assisted in 
the sacrifice shifted from one to another the responsi- 
bility for the death of the ox, until at last the axe or the 
knife was found guilty and thrown into the sea ; then 
the ox-hide was sewn together and stuffed. The guilt 
of murder in the sacrifice and the fictitious resurrection 
of the victim are evidently survivals from a very primi- 
tive stage of ritual. 

The official inventories give us very complete lists 
of the votive offerings to be seen in the various com- 

1 Antike Denkm'dler, II. 22. 



250 ANCIENT ATHENS 

partments of the Parthenon ; they naturally consisted 
of smaller, more perishable, or more precious objects, 
such as could not be left in the open. It will be best 
to leave these for the more detailed description of 
the Parthenon itself in the next chapter, and to con- 
tinue with what was to be seen outside the temples. 
Proceeding from the Parthenon toward the south- 
east, in the direction of the modern museum, we 
notice first a statue said to be by Phidias, Apollo 
Parnopius, the locust god ; unfortunately we have no 
means of identifying the type, either from artistic or 
from mythological evidence. Here, also, were more 
statues of well-known men, including Xanthippus, the 
father of Pericles, who distinguished himself also as 
a general by leading the land force at the battle of 
Mycale, and the poet Anacreon, who was represented, 
according to Pausanias, as " singing like a man flushed 
with wine." Of this last statue we probably possess 
some copies, which show the dignity with which such 
a subject could be treated in the fifth century; the 
poet is standing, with his head thrown back in lyric 
as well as Bacchic enthusiasm. 1 We do not know 
what buildings occupied the eastern end of the Acropo- 
lis, but there seem to have been few noted offerings 
set up in this region ; probably there were some store- 
houses, of which the foundations still remain and have 
been partly used for the modern museums. Near the 
Erechtheum our list of offerings begins again ; there 

1 Brunn-Bruckmann, Denkmaler, 426. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 251 



was a seated figure of Athena by Endceus, which, if 
not to be identified with certainty as a statue actually 
discovered, must have been very like it. Adjoining 
the Erechtheum on the west was the open court of 
the Pandroseum, with the sacred 
olive of Athena growing in it, 
and below it the altar of Zeus 
e EpfC€to5, probably a survival from 
the palace of Erechtheus. The 
space to the west of this, between 
the foundations of the peristyle 
of the old temple and the north 
wall of the Acropolis, was prob- 
ably taken up by the dwelling- 
house and playground or tennis 
court of the maidens known as 
' the Errhephori, who lived in the 
service of Athena here for a year, 
and, at the end of it, carried a 
box which they might not open 
down a mysterious cleft in the earth near the Ilissus. 1 
On the other side of the Erechtheum, the platform on 
which the old temple once stood offered an excellent 
space for setting up votive offerings, and we accordingly 

1 It is sometimes suggested that this is identical with the cleft through which the 
Persians ascended (see p. 47) ; but the words of Pausanias show that the cleft in 
question was not one by which the maidens descended from the Acropolis to the 
shrine near "the Gardens," but a cleft in that shrine. It seems probable that the 
shrine in question may have been that of earth (Ge Olympia), and the cleft may 
be the same one by which the waters of Deucalion's deluge were said to have dis- 
appeared. 




Early Seated Statue of 

Athena. 

Possibly by Endceus. 



252 ANCIENT ATHENS 

find another continuous row extending down to the north 
of the entrance through the Propylaea, and correspond- 
ing to the row we have already noticed, stretching 
from the south of the entrance up to the Parthenon. 
Close to the Erechtheum were the early charred images 
of Athena left as a relic of the Persian Wars. There 
were two groups of warriors facing one another in com- 
bat, such as are familiar to us in the ^Eginetan pedi- 
ments ; one of these represented Heracles and Cycnus ; 
the other, of Erechtheus and Eumolpus, may perhaps be 
identical with Myron's Erechtheus, 1 one of his most 
famous works; there were, as we have seen already, 
several other works by Myron in this neighbourhood ; 
among them was his famous heifer, a marvel of realistic 
animal sculpture, if we may judge from the numerous 
epigrams that were written about it. Here, too, was a 
statue of the Athenian general Tolmides, who distin- 
guished himself when the empire of Athens was at 
its height, and fell at Coronea in 447 b.c. There 
were also representations of some of the exploits of 
Theseus, — his finding of his father's shoes and sword 
beneath the rock where they were hidden, and his 
capture of the Cretan bull. A statue that it may sur- 
prise us, as it surprised Pausanias, to find upon the 
Athenian Acropolis is that of Cylon ; for although he 
was a victorious athlete, his disastrous attempt at tyr- 
anny forfeited any claim he had to commemoration by 
the citizens. The most probable explanation is that the 

1 So Michaelis, Mitth. Ath. II. p. 85. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 253 

statue was set up to expiate the violation of the sanc- 
tuary of Athena by the massacre of his accomplices. 
His statue was set up close to the colossal bronze 
Athena of Phidias. Just to the north-east 01 the Propy- 
laea was a memorial of one of the most brilliant victories 
in the history of the Athenians, when they defeated the 
Boeotians and the Chalcidians in two battles in a 
single day in 507 B.C. It was a four-horse chariot 
in bronze, made from a tithe of the ransom of the 
prisoners they took, whose . fetters were still to be 
seen in the days of Herodotus, hanging on the smoke- 
blackened remains of a wall close by. 1 The inscription 
of dedication on the pedestal, which has been found, 
dates from shortly after the middle of the fifth cen- 
tury; doubtless the original statue and basis were de- 
stroyed or carried off by the Persians, and new ones 
were set up when the Athenians were making claim 
to supremacy over those they had conquered before. 

In addition to the numerous dedications there were 
many official documents, such as decrees or treaties, 
which were interesting not only for their contents, but 
also for the reliefs which were often carved above them. 
One of these showing Athena and Hera clasping hands, 
as a symbol of the alliance of Athens and Samos, may 
be taken as typical of its class. 

1 There is no difficulty in understanding Herodotus' words apLo-Ttprjs xepos irpurov 
€(tl6vtl es to. UpoirtiXaia as meaning " on the left as you enter the Propyl?ea," i.e. 
within the Acropolis, where Pausanias saw it. We must remember that the Pro- 
pylsea seen by Herodotus were not the elaborate structure we know, but a much 
simpler gateway. 



254 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



Last come two 
dedications which 
are among the 
most interesting 
of all; one of 
them the statue 
of Athena, called 
the Lemnian, ac- 
cording to Pau- 
sanias, from those 
that dedicated it 
— perhaps the 
Athenian colo- 
nists who were 
sent to occupy the 
island about the 
middle of the fifth 
century ; in any 
case the mytho- 
logical type was probably one which they found there, 
and which subsequently, as Athena Hephaestia, 1 became 
popular in Athens. It represented Athena in her more 
human aspect, as goddess of the arts of peace. The 
statue was by Phidias, and was counted by many as the 
most beautiful of all his works ; the excellent critic 
Lucian concurred in this judgment, and chose from the 
Lemnia, for his ideal statue, " the whole contour of the 




Heading of a Treaty between Athens and 

Samos. 

Hera and Athena. 



1 Hephaestia is the name of a town in Lemnos ; an adjective formed directly 
from the name of one divinity is never applied to another. 



THE ACROPOLIS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY 



2 55 



face, the softness of the cheeks, and the fair proportions 
of the nose." Professor Furtwangler believes he has 
identified copies of this statue at Dresden, and also in a 
very beautiful head at Bologna; and, although his identi- 
fication has been disputed with good reason by some 
authorities, it has 
met with a con- 
siderable degree of 
acceptance. 1 This 
statue was admira- 
bly placed, for any 
one entering the 
Acropolis through 
the Propylsea would 
see on his right, 
dominating the 
whole hill, the Par- 
thenon, which held 
the gold and ivory 
statue of Athena 
Parthenos ; in front 
of him, the colossal 
bronze figure that 
was conspicuous 
even from the sea; 
and, nearer at hand, 




Portrait of Pericles. 
Probably after Cresilas. 



1 I have stated my own opinion on the matter elsewhere, and I think the objec- 
tions are very strongly put by M. Jamot in Monuments Grecs, Nos. 21, 22. How- 
ever, I cite the Bologna head here as a concession to a theory admitted by many 
archaeologists. 



256 ANCIENT ATHENS 

on his left, this Lemnian Athena. He would thus be 
reminded at once of the three aspects of Athena 
embodied in these famous statues by Phidias. And, 
most appropriately, there was placed close beside the 
Lemnian goddess the portrait of Pericles, to whom more 
than to any other man was due the unrivalled series of 
buildings and of statues that glorified the Athenian 
Acropolis. The portrait was by Cresilas, and was quoted 
in antiquity as an example of the wonderful way in 
which art could " add to the nobility of noble men " ; 
it is an example of the idealising tendency of the fifth 
century. The copies of it that have survived show us 
the character of Pericles much as it has been sketched 
for us by Thucydides ; but we feel in both versions that 
it is not so much accidental and individual features that 
are portrayed, but rather the calm and moderation of 
the ideal statesman, under whose leadership the democ- 
racy became practically the rule of a single man. His 
portrait was rightly the first to be seen on entering, the 
last on leaving, the Acropolis ; but its pedestal instead 
of an honorary inscription such as a later age would 
have delighted to elaborate, bore simply the words, 
" Pericles ; made by Cresilas " (ne/n/cXeovs * Kprjo-CXas 

€7TO€L ). 

1 The genitive is unusual, but hardly suffices to cast doubt on the identification 
of the herm. 



1 

take a bi 

ft a tr; 

« t ! - 



• 

























A 




this 




; but 




the 



.T23W-HT5I0H 3HT M033 HOMHHT^Aq 3HT 
.zqeiz luo-riocn Jnc 








THE PARTHENON FROM THE NORTH-WEST. 
In front, rock-cut steps. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE PARTHENON 

The circumstances under which the Parthenon was 
built have already been stated ; but before we can 
proceed to a more detailed study of this building, which 
is in itself a summary of all that is best and most charac- 
teristic in Greek architecture and sculpture, we must 
take a brief survey of its subsequent vicissitudes ; for 
<there is none of them that has not left a trace upon 
the structure or upon its decoration. 

The Parthenon, as we have seen, must have been 
practically complete by the year 438 b.c. — at least 
complete enough to allow of the dedication of the great 
gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos that stood 
within its cella. During the succeeding centuries, 
though in some instances accident or pillage may have 
affected its contents, the building itself appears to have 
remained unscathed. Its most serious recorded danger 
was from a fire which occurred in the Opisthodomus 
shortly after 404 b.c. ; the treasurers of Athena and of 
the other gods were imprisoned on account of this 
fire, which probably destroyed their public accounts ; but 
it does not appear to have damaged the fabric of the 
s 257 



258 ANCIENT ATHENS 

building. Plutarch remarks that the Parthenon in his 
time was in such excellent preservation that it might 
have been only recently built. It is said that in the 
fifth century of the Christian era, the statue of Athena 
Parthenos was removed from her temple. 1 It is not 
certain whether the Parthenon was at once changed 
into a church, though there is a tradition which has 
gained acceptance rather from its appropriateness than 
from the evidence on which it rests, that the temple 
was, when first converted at this time to Christian use, 
dedicated to the "Wisdom of God" ('Ayia %o(f>ia) — a 
fitting successor to the Goddess of Wisdom. However 
this may be, in the sixth century, when the Greek re- 
ligion was officially abolished by Justinian, the Parthenon 
was certainly transferred from the worship of Athena to 
a new cult ; and during the succeeding centuries we find 
it dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God (SeoroKos). 

The adaptation of the temple of Athena to Christian 
uses involved considerable structural alterations. In 
the first place the temple, as was usual in Greece, had 
its principal entrance at the east end, and the cella 
containing the great statue faced in this direction. The 
church, on the other hand, had to be entered from the 
west ; the square chamber to the west of the cella formed 
a convenient narthex, and three doors were cut through 
the transverse wall to give communication between it 
and the cella. At the east end was the holy place (ayiov 

1 There is little authority for the statement that it was carried off to Constan- 
tinople. 



THE PARTHENON 259 

^77/xa), separated from the body of the nave by an eikono- 
stasis or screen ; behind this, again, was built an apse, 
to hold the seats for bishops and clergy. This apse, 
of which the traces may still be seen in the floor, was 
fitted into the great eastern doorway of the temple ; 
and, to make room for it, not only the jambs of the 
door, but also the nearest columns of the pronaos had 
to be cut away. To the same cause is probably to be 
attributed the removal of the central slab of the frieze, 
above the door ; but this slab was preserved, and was still 
to be seen a thousand years later, behind the door of 
the church. Other portions of the sculpture were not 
so fortunate. The original internal columns of the 
Parthenon, and the roof which they supported, were 
taken away ; and there were substituted for them a set 
of smaller columns, supporting galleries and a vaulted 
roof. It was probably the erection of this roof that 
caused the destruction of the central portions of the east- 
ern pediment. It is improbable that this destruction was 
intentional, for the central group of the western pedi- 
ment, which was just over the chief entrance of the 
church, remained practically intact for another thousand 
years; and the figures of the eastern pediment, which 
are irretrievably lost, were at the back of the church in 
a comparatively inconspicuous position. But the back 
walls of both pediments were broken away in the middle, 
and brick structures, with niches or arches, were substi- 
tuted. 1 The roof over the peristyle appears not to 

1 See illustration, p. 265. 



2 6o ANCIENT ATHENS 

have been renewed ; and consequently the frieze at the 
sides has suffered considerably from exposure to the 
weather. There is little more to record about the Par- 
thenon until comparatively modern times. Its church 
changed from the Greek to the Latin rite under the 
Frank and Venetian Dukes of Athens ; and then again 
to a mosque under the Turks, who captured the city 
in 1456; but it remained practically unchanged, except 
for the addition of a minaret, until the visit of the trav- 
ellers Spon and Wheler in 1676, and of the artist 
Carrey, who in 1674 was employed by the Marquis de 
Nointel, French ambassador in Constantinople, to 
make drawings of its sculpture. These drawings are 
now of inestimable value to us, for only three years later 
came the disaster that reduced the building to its pres- 
ent state. A Venetian army under Morosini came in 
1687 to besiege the Acropolis, and deserters gave infor- 
mation that the Turkish defenders had made the Par- 
thenon into a powder magazine. Accordingly it became 
the target for the Venetian artillery, and on the 26th 
of September a bomb fell within the cella and exploded 
the powder. . The north and south sides of the building 
were blown out, walls and columns alike, leaving a ter- 
rible gap in the midst, but the two ends still remained 
standing; the west end, being more distant from the 
centre of the explosion, and being also protected by the 
transverse wall, was least injured. Thus the west pedi- 
ment again escaped accidental destruction, but this time 
only to fall, with more fatal results, into the hands of 



THE TARTHENON 261 

the admiring but unskilful connoisseur. Morosini 
wished to carry off the chariot and horses of Athena 
as a trophy ; but his attempt to lower them from their 
place only resulted in a fall which shattered them to 
pieces. 

From this time on the work of destruction was slow 
but sure. The fanatical or wanton destruction of the 
Turks and the indifference or powerlessness of the 




The Parthenon in Turkish Times. 
From Stuart's Antiquities of Athens. 

Greeks combined with the acquisitive curiosity of 
Frank travellers to deface or carry away such of the 
sculptures as were accessible. But a new era began 
with the visit of Stuart and Revett to Athens in 1751 ; 
for their careful drawings of the monuments of Athens, 
and especially of the Parthenon, may be said to have 
laid the foundation of a systematic and scientific study 
in addition to attracting the attention of educated men 
in the West to the architecture and sculpture that Athens 



262 ANCIENT ATHENS 

still had to show. A not unnatural consequence was 
the notion of transferring bodily some portion of these 
treasures to a place where they would meet with better 
protection and appreciation. The Marquis de Choiseul- 
Gouffier, a worthy successor of de Nointel as French 
ambassador to the Porte, took up this scheme ; and at 
his direction, Fauvel, the French consul at Athens, 
actually had some pieces of sculpture removed from 
the building. But it was reserved for Lord Elgin to 
carry out the scheme. When he was appointed ambas- 
sador to the Porte in 1799, his attention was called 
to the imminent danger of destruction under which 
the Athenian sculptures lay ; and he accordingly 
despatched the Italian artist, Lusieri, with a staff of 
assistants, to draw and make casts. In 1801 the 
defeat of the French in Egypt left England paramount 
in the Levant, and Lord Elgin took advantage of the 
opportunity to obtain a firman authorising him to pull 
down extant buildings where necessary, and to remove 
sculpture from them. The first result of this was the 
demolition of the Turkish houses which we see in 
Stuart's drawing 1 surrounding the Parthenon, and the 
discovery in their foundation of many fragments of the 
pediments and of other sculptures ; but the permission 
was also interpreted to allow the removal of sculpture 
from the Parthenon itself, and, as a consequence, a great 
part of the sculpture which was still left on the build- 
ing came to be carried off to England. The abuse that 

1 See p. 261. 



THE PARTHENON 263 

was showered on Lord Elgin for this proceeding by 
Byron and others, mainly on sentimental grounds, will 
not bear the test of sober criticism. The only shadow 
of justification that can be found for it lies in the fact 
that Lusieri's workmen, though they did no damage 
to the sculpture, were not so careful of the building 
as they might have been ; in particular, they threw 
down some blocks of cornice to get out the south- 
western metopes. But they left on the building such 
sculpture as appeared to be adequately protected from 
the weather or other damage ; and a comparison of 
the casts they took at the time with the present con- 
dition of the sculptures left behind shows that they 
erred, if at all, in taking away too little and not too 
much. After many delays and difficulties the Elgin 
Marbles were brought to England, 1 and finally acquired 
by the British Government to be deposited in the British 
Museum, in 18 16. 

A study of the Parthenon must take into account 
the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum, and scat- 
tered fragments of its sculpture in the Louvre, Copen- 
hagen, and elsewhere, as well as the building itself on 
the Acropolis, and such portions of its decoration as are 
preserved in the Acropolis Museum. With the help 



1 One of the ships chartered by Lord Elgin was wrecked off Cerigo, but its whole 
cargo was recovered at great expense. Of course the ship laden with sculpture, dis- 
covered by divers off Cerigo in 1901, has nothing to do with this. It was a Roman 
ship with a cargo of miscellaneous bronze and marble statues. The proposed identi- 
fication, which unfortunately gained some currency, could not have been thought pos- 
sible by any one acquainted with the facts. 



264 ANCIENT ATHENS 

of all this evidence, let us endeavour to realise the 
appearance of the Parthenon as it was when first dedi- 
cated in 438 B.C., and as it remained for nearly a thou- 
sand years after that date. 

The plan of the building was peristyle amphiprostyle ; 
that is to say, it had a portico of six columns projecting 
at front and back, and in addition to them a colonnade 
which surrounded the whole building, with eight columns 
at the front and "back and seventeen at the sides. Its 
chief peculiarity lies in the existence of a large square 
chamber behind the cella, entered from the back of 
the temple. This chamber was called the Parthenon 
in the narrower sense ; indeed, the name was not trans- 
ferred to the whole building until later times. The 
arrangement was probably an inheritance from the early 
temple or Hecatompedon, 1 which had a similar chamber 
at its back ; in both cases the chamber appears to have 
served as a treasury. The Parthenon, according to its 
earlier design, was to have been considerably longer, 
and this may have been due to an intention to include 
in it also two small chambers like those in the Heca- 
tompedon. By their omission it was possible to follow 
the tendency of the age to give temples a shorter and 
wider plan, and this consideration was doubtless para- 
mount with the architect Ictinus, who designed the 
temple in such a manner that the length and breadth, 
measured along the upper step, are exactly in the ratio 
of 9:4. The cella was of ample proportions, and was 

1 See p. So, above. 







Z s: 



< c 






J3 



THE PARTHENON 267 

entered through a great door at the eastern end; a 
similar door at the west end led into the Parthenon. 
These doors both show on their jambs the sockets for 
wooden casings, perhaps coated with bronze, which 
here, as in the Propylaea, survive in marble walls as a 
reminiscence of the time when walls were built of 
unbaked brick, or other inferior material, and required 
such a casing to protect them. There was no com- 
munication between the cella and the square chamber 
behind it ; the plain wall that separated them was not 
pierced with the doors of which the traces are now to be 
seen, until the temple was changed into a church. The 
cella was surrounded by an internal colonnade, at the 
back as well as on both sides ; the traces of the columns, 
and even the outline of their flutings, may still be seen 
on the pavement, though they are to some extent 
obscured by the traces of the later and smaller columns 
that carried the gallery and vaulted roof of the church. 
They could not, from their size, have reached to the roof, 
but must have supported an entablature, and possibly a 
gallery, on which rested another tier of smaller columns. 
Standing clear of this inner colonnade, and almost exactly 
in the middle of the whole temple, was the pedestal of 
the colossal gold and ivory statue of Athena, which stood 
facing the great door. The place of the pedestal is marked 
by a gap in the marble pavement, filled with blocks of 
Piraic limestone ; the space immediately in front of the 
statue was railed off, as at Olympia, by a balustrade of 
which the line may still be traced on the pavement. 



268 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Interior of Parthenon, looking East. 
The dark patch in the middle of the pavement is the site of the basis of the statue. 

The question of the lighting of Greek temples gen- 
erally, and of the Parthenon in particular, has been much 
discussed. The old view, that there was a square open- 
ing in the roof of the cella, and that the temple was 
what is called hypaethral, or " open to the sky," is now 
generally discredited ; it probably arose, as Professor 
Dorpfeld has shown, 1 from a misapplication of a passage 
in Vitruvius. It is evident that in a variable climate 
like that of Athens so delicate a work as a gold and 
ivory statue could not have been exposed to the weather, 
and no curtain or hanging, such as has been suggested, 
would have sufficed for its protection, especially since it 
is now known that the statue stood out in the middle 
of the cella, not in a niche at the back of it. Mr. Fer- 
gusson's suggestion of a sort of clerestory, admitting 

1 Mitth. Ath. XVI. 334. 



THE PARTHENON 269 

through the topmost row of the internal columns 1 the 
light which enters through openings in the roof above 
the side aisles, is free from the objections that seem fatal 
to the " hypaethral " theory, and must be acknowledged 
to be very ingenious. But it is not supported by any 
clear example of such an arrangement in any known 
building of classical times, and it is difficult to believe 
that so convenient a device, if present in so famous 
a temple, would not have left some trace elsewhere. 
Moreover, such means of lighting is perhaps superfluous 
in the case of the Parthenon. In the first place, the 
interior need not have been very brilliantly lighted ; so 
gorgeous a piece of work as the gold and ivory statue 
would probably look best in a subdued light; and the 
light entering through the great eastern door — or rather 
through the central intercolumniation of the east front 
— would have sufficed, when reflected from the white 
marble pavement and walls, to give a very fair illumina- 
tion to the cella. In this way, too, a* very impressive 
effect would be obtained on the festival of the goddess, 
when, owing to the special orientation of the temple, the 
rays of the rising sun would fall directly on the statue. 
The light that entered through the door was probably 
supplemented also by that which penetrated through the 
roof. The tiles were made of Parian rather than Pentelic 
marble, probably because of its superior transparency. 
Thin slabs of marble are sometimes used to this day in 
Byzantine churches to fill the windows instead of glass ; 

1 Fergusson restores three tiers of internal columns. 



270 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and the proud boast of Byzes of Naxos, " that he was the 
first to make tiles of marble," x may well imply that he 
was the first to solve the difficult problem of the lighting 
of the interior of temples ; so long as they were small 
the door sufficed, but when they grew larger the need 
for some such device may have made itself felt. A 
temple like the Parthenon doubtless had an inner 
ceiling of wood, probably flat, within the slanting marble 
roof ; but it would have been easy to arrange the panels 
of this ceiling so that the light should penetrate through 
some of them into the rooms below. 

It is to be remembered that a visitor to the Acropolis 
would see the Parthenon first from its north-western 
corner; he would then have to pass right along its 
northern side before reaching its front, and so entering 
the cella by the great eastern door. We shall see later 
how these conditions affected the choice and the placing 
of the sculptural decoration, but they doubtless weighed 
also with the architect in fixing the proportions of the 
temple, which are certainly most impressive as seen 
from the Propylaea by a spectator who faces the north- 
western angle of the temple and stands at some dis- 
tance below it. 

The Parthenon represented the perfection of Doric 
architecture ; it had neither the stiffness and formality 
that are sometimes associated with the order — mainly 
through the influence of Roman or modern imitations — 
nor the massive but somewhat clumsy proportions of the 

1 os irpd)TL<jTos revise \idov K^pafiov. 



THE PARTHENON 271 

earlier Doric buildings in Greece. The exquisite com- 
bination of strength, simplicity, and grace which distin- 
guishes it beyond all other buildings preserved to us 
from antiquity, may be appreciated to some extent even 
at first sight of the temple in its present state, but all the 
refinement and subtlety of design and execution that 
have contributed to produce this result can only be real- 
ised by a minute study of its forms and proportions. 
This study was first made by Mr. F. C. Penrose, F.R.S., 
and his exact measurements and calculations, published 
in 185 1, came as a revelation to architects. For a 
full and detailed account, his great work on the Prin- 
ciples of Athenian Architecture must be consulted, but 
a summary will suffice to show the nature of his 
discoveries. 

In the first place, there is hardly a straight line of any 
length in the whole building. The steps upon which it 
rests have a convex curve ; though the total rise does 
not amount to more than four inches at the highest 
point, in the middle of each side, and to three inches at 
the middle of the front and back, it is easily perceptible 
to the eye, if seen from the corner of the building, and 
doubtless produces an unconscious effect at a greater 
distance or from a different point of view. The archi- 
trave above the columns has a similar curve, though it is 
not now so regular, owing probably to the accidents that 
have shattered the building. The curve may also be 
recognised in the substructure on which the Parthenon 
stands, which was, as we have seen, prepared for an 



272 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



earlier building; it is, indeed, a usual feature in any well- 
constructed Greek temple. The nicety with which this 
curve had to be calculated by the architect, and the 
allowances that had to be made for it, may best be real- 
ised by an examination of the corner columns. These 
were standing upon a bed that sloped both ways, and the 
necessary corrections are effected in their lowest drums, 




North Side of Parthenon, showing Curve of Steps. 

of which the upper surfaces are nearly horizontal. As 
a result, these drums, instead of having their upper and 
lower surfaces parallel, are nearly two inches thicker on 
the outer side than on the inner ; and there is a similar 
variation in thickness in the lowest drums of the other 
columns ; the difference diminishes as we approach the 
middle of the front, back, or sides of the temple. This 



THE PARTHENON 2?3 

correction is mainly due to the curve of the steps or, 

to speak more exactly, of the top step or stylobate ; but 
a small fraction of it is due to another cause. The axes 
of the columns themselves are not exactly vertical, but 
incline slightly inward, nearly three inches in their total 
height of over thirty-four feet. In this inclination, as 
well as in the curve of the stylobate, we may probably 
see examples of the application of two different principles. 
The first of these is optical correction ; the second is the 
preference of a curve to a straight line. It is a matter 
of observation, which any one can test for himself, that 
a long horizontal straight line, with a number of vertical 
lines resting upon it, appears to the eye to sink slightly 
in the middle, and to rise toward the ends ; still more is 
this the case with a horizontal line surmounted by a very 
shallow triangle, such as the gable of a Greek temple. 
And, moreover, the inward slope of the columns, and the 
slightly pyramidal shape which it gives to the whole 
temple, gives an appearance of stability which would be 
absent if all the columns were perfectly vertical. At the 
same time, though these optical corrections may supply 
the immediate cause for the curves which we may see in 
the main lines of the Parthenon, the architect was also 
aware of the fact that a curve is more pleasing to the 
eye than a straight line, and Mr. Penrose's accurate cal- 
culations have proved that the curves actually used are 
all of the most regular character, most of them being 
either hyperbolic or parabolic. It does not, however, 
necessarily follow that they were all laid out by mathe- 



274 ANCIENT ATHENS 

matical calculation, although of course such adjustments 
as we have noticed in the bottom drums of the columns 
must have been calculated to a nicety. The mathemati- 
cal corrections of the curves may in some cases be due 
to an instinct for perfection of form and to training of 
eye and hand rather than to any conscious application 
of mathematical knowledge. The columns themselves 
show the same qualities in design and execution that char- 
acterise the whole temple. The entasis, or gentle swell- 
ing of the shaft, is in a single harmonious curve from 
capital to base ; and the outline of the echinus, which in 
earlier Doric columns is in the form of a rounded bowl, 
here approaches so nearly to a straight line that at first 
sight its curve may easily be overlooked ; but it is there, 
and its presence gives the appearance of elasticity which 
we miss in later examples of the order. Now that many 
of the columns are fallen, it is possible to see the means 
by which the extraordinary perfection of their workman- 
ship was attained. The drums were roughly shaped at 
the quarry, but made a little larger than they were in- 
tended to be; and projecting blocks were left on them 
for the application of levers and ropes. Their external 
surfaces remained in this state until after they were 
erected, but the joint surfaces were elaborately prepared. 
The principle involved in this preparation is the same 
that we find applied also to the squared blocks of 
a wall, and to which Greek masonry of the best period 
owes the fineness of its joints. To say that a knife- 
blade could not be inserted between the blocks is a 



THE PARTHENON 



275 



very rough and inadequate way of expressing the fact ; 
the joint shows often so fine a line as scarcely to be per- 
ceptible to the eye. It would have been practically im- 
possible to make the two surfaces fit so exactly as this 
all over, and therefore the joint surface in every case 




Unfinished Drums of Columns. 

The upper one shows the flutes begun at the bottom. The one on the left 
shows rough surface and projections for use of levers. 

is made only a few inches broad, all round the edges 
of the drum or block; and the rest of the surface is 
slightly sunk. 

On the surfaces of the fallen drums we can see 
several different varieties of work. First of all, for a 
few inches all round the edge, there is a perfectly 
smooth surface, which formed the actual joint. Within 
this, the greater part of the drum is covered with fine 
marks of a tooth chisel, which remain quite fresh ; and 
near the middle there is a shallow circular depression, 



276 ANCIENT ATHENS 

showing rough punch marks. The centre of this is 
occupied by a square hole ; and the joint has actually 
proved so perfectly air tight that in some cases the 
wooden plug that fitted into this hole has been preserved; 
some examples can be seen in the Acropolis Museum 
at Athens. This wooden plug was cut off flush with 
the surface of the drum, and in its middle was a 
round hole, into which a cylindrical peg was inserted, 
projecting so as to fit also the corresponding hole in 
the adjoining drum. This peg was not of course 
adequate, either in size or material, to resist any great 
strain, and so it cannot have been intended as a tenon 
to hold the drums in place ; their weight alone, on a 
horizontal surface, would suffice for this, and nothing 
but the terrible shock of an explosion or of an earth- 
quake could have displaced them as they are now 
displaced. The peg must therefore have served the 
purpose of exact adjustment when they were set in 
position ; perhaps at the same time they were turned 
round and ground against one another, to remove any 
slight unevenness in the joint surface ; but it is difficult 
to see how this could have been done without throwing 
on the w r ooden peg a heavier strain than it could bear. 
The deeper depression with a roughly dressed surface 
would serve to receive any superfluous marble dust 
that was rubbed off in the process of finally adjusting 
the drums. The top block of each column included 
the top of the shaft as well as the echinus and the 
square abacus. From the point of view of historical 



THE PARTHENON 



277 



evolution, it may perhaps seem a solecism to make 
these three members out of a single block; they must 
of course represent different portions of the original 
wooden structure. But the practice is common in 
Doric temples, and is doubtless due to the, difficulty 
of exact adjustment and the risk of shifting if they 
were made of separate pieces. The top of the flu tings 
was worked on 
this block be- 
fore it was set 
up ; and their 
lower ends 
were worked 
on the lower 
portion of the 
bottom drum 
also before it- 
was placed in T ^ ~ , 7 w 

l Joint of Fallen Drum, showing Various Working 

position. The OF Surface. 

rest of the drums were left rough on the outside until 
after the column was erected ; and in many unfinished 
temples one may still see the tops and bottoms of 
the flutings alone indicated — for example, at Segesta 
in Sicily and at Rhamnus and Eleusis in Attica. On 
the Acropolis itself, in front of the modern museum 
may be seen some bottom drums, prepared but never 
used, with the flutings worked on their lower portion 
only. After the columns were erected it was easy to 
stretch a line from the top to the bottom of each flute, 




278 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and so to carry them with perfect precision through the 
joints. By this method also there was no risk of chip- 
ping the fine edges of the marble by setting one drum 
on another after the final surface was completed. The 
only exception was in the case of the top joint, since 
the fluting above it was previously completed ; here 
we find the edge of the flutings bevelled away, and 
the real joint only beginning a little distance from 
the edge. The result is a distinct dark line round the 
finished column, which may always be seen, even when 
the other joints are so perfect as to escape observation. 
This technique implies that it is impossible to place 
the drums of a column in position after they have 
been fluted, or to replace them when once they have 
fallen. The unfortunate attempt that has been made 
to rebuild some of the fallen columns of the Parthenon 
offers a warning against any further proceeding of the 
same sort. They have none of the life and elasticity 
that distinguish the unfallen columns; and this is mainly 
due to the fact that their joints are no longer perfect, 
nor their flutings continuous. 

This description of the columns and of the manner 
in which they were made will suffice to exemplify the 
precision of design and mechanical skill in execution 
that characterise the Parthenon throughout ; nothing, 
however, but a careful study of the forms will suffice 
to show the extraordinary degree of perfection in work- 
ing marble that they imply. It is impossible to detect 
any deviation from the mathematical exactness of the 



THE PARTHENON 



2»I 



those of the peristyle, and stood on a pavement a step 
higher ; the entablature that rested upon them was simi- 
lar in construction to that over the external columns, 
except that in the place of the metopes and triglyphs 
were set the slabs of the continuous frieze in low relief, 
which also is continued at the same height all round 
the temple, crowning the side walls of the cella. Above 
the cornice at each end of the temple the gable rose in 
a solid wall, faced with thinner marble slabs, to form a 
background to the pedimental sculptures ; and above 
the triangular space was a second cornice, completing 
the massive frame in which these sculptures were set. 
The sculpture of the Parthenon 1 was, as we have 
seen, applied to the decoration of three portions of , the 
building, — the metopes between the triglyphs of the 
outer Doric frieze, the triangular fields of the two gables 
or pediments, and the continuous frieze within the peri- 
style, above the inner columns and the walls of the cella. 
Each of these series of sculptures was made to suit 
different conditions of architectural surroundings, and 
also, to some extent, under different artistic influences. 
Chronologically, the three must be placed in the order 
named, as is shown by their style ; on technical archi- 
tectural grounds we might come to the same conclusion, 
since the metopes had to be slipped into the grooves of 
the triglyph blocks before the cornice was laid above 
them, and consequently before the pedimental figures 

1 For the Parthenon sculpture generally, see Waldstein, Essays on the Art of 
Pheidias. 



2«2 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



could be set in position ; and the frieze on the wall of 
the cella would not probably be added until after the 
completion of the peristyle and all that belonged to it. 
But ' these architectural arguments are inconclusive; for 
it is always a matter of doubt how far the sculpture was 
completed in the studio, and whether the work, or a 
good deal of it, may not have been done after the blocks 
were in situ. 

The metopes are in high relief, to suit the massive 
architectural frame in which they are set. The 
Parthenon is the only extant temple in which all the 
metopes are sculptured, and their great number — ninety- 
two in all — offered great scope for variety in subject and 
treatment. With the exception of those from the south 
side of the temple, the metopes have suffered much 
from exposure to the weather and from other vicissi- 
tudes, and it is by no means easy in many cases even 
to make out their subject. It seems, however, that the 
metopes on the western front represented the battle 
of the Greeks and the Amazons, and those on the 
eastern front the battles of the Gods and the Giants. 
The division of subjects between the north and 
south sides was not so simple. At either end of , the 
south side were twelve metopes with scenes from the 
combat of the Lapiths and the Centaurs ; but the eight 
metopes in the middle had different subjects, several 
of them showing female figures in various attitudes. 
Similarly on the north side toward either end the metopes 
that are left or of which drawings are preserved have vari- 



THE PARTHENON 283 

ous scenes, most of* them including female figures, and 
have been conjectured with some probability to refer to 
the sack of Troy ; but the metopes in the middle appear l 
to have contained further scenes from the centauromachy. 
By their choice of all these subjects there is little doubt 
that the Athenians intended to depict, to the glory of 
their goddess, the mythical prototypes of their own 
victories over the Persians, which were still fresh in 
their memory; and such a theme was appropriate to the 
Parthenon, built as it was from the funds subscribed 
by the Greeks against the common foe, but no longer 
necessary since the maritime empire of Athens guaran- 
teed the protection these funds were intended to 
provide. In the distribution of the subjects on the 
different sides of the temple there is evidence of a 
distinct artistic intention, which is in all probability to 
be attributed to the architect rather than to the sculptor 
or sculptors employed. The vigorous, often violent 
scenes of the centauromachy show the greatest origi- 
nality of composition ; and by their splendid combination 
and contrast of the human and equine forms, by the 
striking pose and strong relief of their various groups, 
they arrest the attention of the beholder, whether far 
or near. For this reason they are not placed on the 
fronts below the pediments, where they would have 
diverted the eye from the more important groups 

1 The evidence for this is rather doubtful ; the metopes themselves have entirely 
disappeared ; but centaurs are shown on drawings by D'Ortieres' artist, which are 
generally supposed to belong to the north side. 



284 ANCIENT ATHENS 

above them, nor even near the ends of the north side ; 
for, as we have seen, a visitor first saw the Parthenon 
from the north-west, and then passed along to the 
north-east corner, and consequently his view of either 
front would usually include the nearer, part of the north 
side. We find accordingly that the scenes on the 
metopes at either end of the north side are quieter 
and less striking ; only in the middle of this side, in 
all probability, were some centaur metopes to give it 
variety. With the south side it is different. This is 
the side of the Parthenon that is most conspicuous 
from below ; it is, indeed, the only aspect of the building 
that can be clearly seen without mounting the Acropolis,, 
since there is only a comparatively narrow space between 
the temple and the south wall of the Acropolis. This 
space, moreover, can only be approached after passing 
the east or west front, and, if we may judge from the 
case of Pausanias, was not necessarily included in a 
walk round the Acropolis. It follows that the south 
side of the Parthenon was intended chiefly to be seen by 
itself as a whole, and to be seen from a distance ; and 
these two facts had a paramount influence on the distri- 
bution of the metopes. Scenes from the centauromachy 
were placed on the south side, twelve at each end, 
separated by a set of quieter and more miscellaneous 
subjects in the middle. In this way the bold and vigor- 
ous design and execution of the centaur metopes gained 
their full effect in contrast with the massive architec- 
tural frame in which they were set; and this c6ntrast 



THE PARTHENON 



2 85 




South-west Corner of Parthenon, showing Metope S. I., in situ. 

Centaur and Lapith. 

would be strongest at the ends, where the structural 
features of the building are most conspicuous, but at 
the same time they would not obtrude themselves on 
the notice of the spectator, to the detriment of the 
general harmony and balance of the sculptural decora- 
tion of the temple. 

These centaur groups from the south side are the 
only metopes that have escaped, partially or entirely, 
from the effects of weather and of the various vicissi- 
tudes of the Parthenon. It is therefore fortunate that, 
so far as we can judge from the scanty traces of sculp- 
ture on the rest of the metopes, they were also the finest 
originally both in composition and execution ; but they 
also vary greatly among themselves in both qualities. 



286 ANCIENT ATHENS 

There are in the first place certain metopes which, 
though full of vigour, show no trace of exaggeration 
or display. For balance and restraint in composition, 
and for mastery in execution, they can find a parallel 
only in the pediments of the Parthenon ; and their 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Metope S. XXVIII. 
Centaur and Lapith. 

style, both in the treatment of the nude and of drapery, 
also resembles that of the pediments. Among these 
metopes perhaps the most conspicuous is the spirited 
figure of a centaur exulting in triumph over a prostrate 
foe. Here every line and every detail of the modelling 



THE PARTHENON 



287 



is full of expression, yet there is a certain restraint and 
rhythm about the composition which adapts it to the 
space within which it is confined, and prevents any 
feeling of inconsistency between the violent motion of 
the centaur and the rigid architectural frame of the 
metope. There is, moreover, a fine contrast between 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 



Metope S. XXVII. 
Centaur and Lapith. 

the exuberant life of the centaur and the lifeless body 
of the Lapith, relaxed, yet full o'f grace even in death. 
This group is also remarkable for the way in which it 
exactly fills the available space, — a quality which it 
shares with the metopes that rival it in other artistic 
merits. In another of these finest metopes we see the 



288 ANCIENT ATHENS 

balance of combat used with the highest artistic skill, 
so as to adapt the group to its architectural setting. 
Here the Lapith has seized the centaur by the hair, 
and throws the whole weight of his body backward 
across the metope, to check the onward rush of his 
adversary, and the crossing, both of lines and of impe- 
tus, that is thus produced, makes the group both com- 
plete in itself and admirably suited to its square frame. 
Here we can see also perhaps the earliest example. of a 
decorative use of drapery that was to have very exten- 
sive influence at a somewhat later date. The chlamys 
of the Lapith has only its extreme corners thrown over 
his right shoulder and his left arm, so that the rest of 
it hangs, in richly curving folds, to form a background 
to his body. The effect of contrast is admirable ; but 
it must be admitted that the chlamys is placed in a 
position where it could hardly remain for a moment, 
even if the figure were at rest, — much less in the midst 
of a combat. The drapery is used, in fact, not to express 
more fully and vividly the sculptor's conception of the 
scene he represents, but with the direct intention of 
gaining a certain artistic effect, — a dangerous tendency 
of which we may see k the consequences elsewhere. 
There are other metopes, hardly if at all inferior to 
these, with great variety in the treatment of the scenes 
of combat. In one of them centaur and Lapith advance 
from opposite sides; the Lapith- seizes by the throat the 
centaur, who rears up to meet him ; in another, the 
Lapith has forced the centaur down on his knees by 



THE PARTHENON 



289 



pressing his knee against his back, while he throttles 
him with his left arm and hand. 

Many of the metopes are less advanced in their tech- 
nique, and vary a good deal in quality. Some of them, 
though full of vigour and originality, show a certain 
hardness of modelling, and an exaggeration of athletic 
pose in the composition, which are characteristic of the 
transition from ar- 
chaic stiffness to 
complete freedom. 
It was natural that 
at such a time the 
new knowledge of 
anatomy should 
lead to undue dis- 
play of the muscu- 
lar structure of the 
human form, and 
that, when the 
conventional types 
of early art were 
for the first time discarded, the artist should not always 
make the most discreet use of a practically unlimited 
choice of motives. Sometimes, as in the case of the 
finest of the Parthenon metopes, the instinct for sculp- 
tural appropriateness supplied the guidance and the 
restraint that are usually due to convention or artistic 
tradition ; but in some other metopes, as in those of 
the Theseum, positions of unstable equilibrium are by 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. ManselL & Sons. 

Metope S. VII. 
Centaur and Lapith. 



U 



290 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



no means avoided, and even tricks of the wrestling 
school are imported into heroic contests in such a way 
as to impair their dignity even while increasing their 
realism. Sometimes the result is even more unsatisfac- 
tory, and the com- 
position, in its 
aim at originality, 
becomes either 
weak and uncon- 
vincing, or even 
ungainly and dis- 
pleasing in effect. 
Examples of what 
we may call ath- 
letic exaggeration 
occur in metopes 
8 and 9 of the 
south side ; while 
the weaker and more unsatisfactory work may be seen 
in metopes 30 and 31. In metope 31 particularly, 
the raised right leg and bent left arm of the Lapith 
suggest that he is not exerting the force, so much in- 
sisted on in the hard and dry muscles of his torso, to 
any good purpose ; and the position of the centaur is 
hardly stronger, though we see the same exaggeration in 
his torso and in the expression of his face. The metopes 
containing female figures are also, for the most part, 
of the most inefficient class — a fact that in itself is 
significant as to the school to which the metopes are 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Metope S. XXX. 
Centaur and Lapith. 



THE PARTHENON 



291 



due — although, curiously enough, the drapery in one 
of them (29) is executed with a skill that contrasts with 
the awkward pose of the figure and resembles the tech- 
nique of the pediments. 

It is evident, from what has been said, that the me- 
topes do not show either the unity or the uniformity 
which we should expect if they were, even in design, the 
work of a single man. The differences between them 
are more marked, and affect the whole composition of 
the groups in a greater degree than would have been 
possible if a com- 
mon design had 
been executed by 
various hands. 
After a mere dis- 
tribution of the 
subjects on the 
building, which, as 
we have seen, is 
mainly governed 
by architectural 
principles, the 
artists who under- 
took the individ- 
ual metopes seem 
to have been given a free hand. These artists seem, 
for the most part, to have belonged to a school which 
gave most of its attention to athletic subjects ; all of 
them delight in rendering the details of the male torso 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Manseli & Sons. 

Metope S. XXXI. 
Centaur and Lapith. 



292 ANCIENT ATHENS 

and limbs, some with the exaggeration of leanness of 
anatomy, some with the moderation that comes of mas- 
tery; none of them treats the female figure with any 
success, and, with two or three notable exceptions, the 
drapery leaves much to be desired. It would be tempt- 
ing to go further, and to assign the metopes, in classes, 
to the hands of different individual sculptors, on the 
lines of division already indicated. But any such 
attempt must involve a great deal of conjecture, espe- 
cially now that the majority of the metopes of the Par- 
thenon are either lost or so much defaced that it is 
impossible to judge of their style. It is more instructive 
to notice that in the athletic tendencies of the sculptors 
who made the metopes, their vigour and originality of 
composition, their choice of subjects, and even in what 
they avoid or treat in a perfunctory manner, we can trace 
a clear analogy to what we know of Myron, the greatest 
of Attic sculptors of this athletic class. Not that we 
should therefore assume any direct connection between 
Myron and the Parthenon metopes ; but his influence 
must have been great among his contemporaries and 
successors ; and in the metopes of the Parthenon and the 
Theseum we may recognise the traces of this influence, 
though the sculptures themselves, both in design and 
execution, show a freshness and originality which pre- 
clude the possibility of any common controlling and 
directing power. In this respect they offer a contrast to 
the rest of the sculptures of the Parthenon, the pediments 
and the frieze. 



THE PARTHENON 293 

If the pediments of the Parthenon were known to us 
only from what is left of them either in the British 
Museum or on the building itself, we should have little 
notion of their subject or composition, though we could 
still appreciate the supreme excellence of their execu- 
tion and the beauty of the individual figures. Fortu- 
nately, however, the extant sculptures are supplemented 
by other evidence which enables us to obtain at least a 
general notion of their appearance when complete, 
though many details must always remain unknown. 
We have, in the first place, Carrey's drawings, which 
show us the west pediment almost complete, though he 
saw even less than we can still see of the east pedi- 
ment. His drawings are supplemented by some others, 
which serve to confirm or correct them in details. The 
information given us by Pausanias is very meagre ; 
instead of mentioning, as he does at Olympia, the indi- 
vidual figures, and so giving us a clue even where he 
himself made mistakes in their identification, he con- 
tents himself with saying that, " in the case of the Par- 
thenon, all the group in the front pediment refers to the 
birth of Athena, and that at the back contains the con- 
test of Posidon asrainst Athena for the land." These 
subjects, however, are represented on some vases or 
reliefs that have survived from ancient times ; 1 some of 
these are directly derived from the pediments of the 

1 One set of miniature copies of figures from the Parthenon pediments found 
at Eleusis might have proved most valuable ; but unfortunately they give us little 
information which we cannot obtain elsewhere. See 'E0. 'A/>x- 1890. 12, 13. 



294 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Parthenon, and others, especially those of earlier date, 
show the way in which the theme usually presented 

itself to the Greek artist. An- 
other source of evidence that 
has only recently, owing to the 
careful study of Professor Sauer, 
come to be appreciated at its 
full value is to be found in the 
extant floor and background 
of the pediments themselves. 
Here may still be seen clear 
traces of the pedimental figures, 
— sockets prepared to receive 
their bases or the attributes 
that belonged to them, places 
where the ground has been pro- 
tected from the weather by a 
superimposed figure, discolor- 
ation from metal or other ad- 
juncts, and the indications of 
great metal bars to take the 
weight of heavier masses off 
the ground of the pediment. 
With the help of this evidence, 
Professor Sauer has been able 
not only to ascertain the exact 
position of figures either still 
extant or recorded by Carrey, but to infer, with a high 
degree of probability, the character and position of 



M.& 







m 



W 

s 
5 






Si 



< 



THE PARTHENON 



295 





figures now entirely lost. Such indications cannot, of 
course, suffice for the restoration of a lost group where 
there is no other material to sup- 
plement them ; but where such 
material exists, the marks on the 
pediment are a great help in 
choosing between alternative pos- 
sibilities and in fitting the various 
figures together in their probable 
relation. 

The back or western 1 pediment 
is the better known to us in its 
general composition, though the 
finest individual figures preserved 
are nearly all from the east pedi- 
ment ; it will therefore be most 
convenient to consider the sub- 
ject and the probable restoration 
of the west pediment first. 

The subject, as we are told by 
Pausanias, was the contest be- 
tween Athena and Posidon for 
the land ; this, as we learn from 
other recorded versions of the 
legend, must mean for the land of 
Attica. Each of the rival deities 
is said to have produced a symbol 



1 It will be remembered that some travellers of the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries confused the front and back pediments, because the church was entered 
from what was the back of the Parthenon as a temple. 



296 ANCIENT ATHENS 

or token of possession, — Athena her olive tree, and 
Posidon a salt spring; both these symbols were shown 
in the precincts of the Erechtheum throughout classi- 
cal times. For the moment in this contest chosen by 
the artist, and the manner in which he represented it, 
we are dependent in the first place upon Carrey's sketch, 
for the extant fragments do not suffice to show us the 
arrangement of the central group. In addition to these, 
we may compare the treatment of the same subject on 
a vase found at Kertch and now in St. Petersburg ; and 
the group of Athena and Posidon occurs also, with 
some variations of pose, on certain Athenian coins and 
a relief. We must remember that the subject appeared 
again in a group set up on the Acropolis near the 
Parthenon, which, as we have noticed, was not improb- 
ably an alternative design for the pediment. The 
Kertch vase shows the most extensive composition and 
is the most clearly related to the Parthenon — some 
even recognise in the little temple represented on the 
vase a kind of symbolic acknowledgment on the part 
of the painter of the source from which his representa- 
tion is derived ; but when we compare it carefully with 
Carrey's drawing, we must admit that it is impossible 
to see the same motives in the principal figures of the 
two compositions. Athena indeed advances in both 
cases away from the centre ; on the vase her right 
arm is raised with the point of the spear directed down- 
ward, as if just before, or more probably just after, a 
blow that has struck the ground. But Posidon, who 



THE PARTHENON 297 

on the vase is advancing in the same direction as 
Athena, and holding his trident with point downward, 
just as she is holding her spear, is represented in a 
totally different attitude in Carrey's drawing ; on the 
pediment he was not advancing but drawing back from 
the centre. Again, on the vase the motive of the chief 
group is complicated by the addition of a third person, 
Dionysus, who approaches rapidly from behind Athena 
with thyrsus advanced, as if to join in the contest. 
Apart from the variation in subordinate figures, these 
differences between vase and pediment in the central 
group suffice to show that the moment and even the 
subject of the representation are not identical in the 
two cases. The vase seems to follow a different version 
of the myth, which introduces Dionysus as one of the 
principal actors; and although its interpretation has 
been much disputed, there seem only two possible 
explanations of the action of the chief figures : either 
they are represented in the very act of producing their 
respective symbols, — perhaps at the moment after the 
blow of spear and trident that have produced olive 
and salt spring, 1 — or else, as some suggest, 2 Posidon 
is represented as attacking with his trident the olive of 
Athena, while the goddess, supported by Dionysus and 
her sacred snake, hastens to its protection. Neither of 
these motives can possibly be reconciled with the action 
of the figures on the pediment, as recorded by Carrey's 
sketches: and it cannot be maintained that these 

1 Petersen, Arch. Z., 1875, P- II 5- 2 Robert, Hermes, 1881, p. 60. 



298 ANCIENT ATHENS 

sketches, which are supported by other evidence, are 
incorrect in their record of the whole composition. It 
has been necessary to devote so much attention to the 
vase, because some writers 1 were inclined to overrate 
its importance, especially when it was first discovered, 
and even to follow it, rather than Carrey's sketch, in 
their attempts to recover the composition of the pedi- 
ment. While avoiding so extreme a view, we need not 
refuse to admit that the vase is derived from the pedi- 
ment, though it treats the subject in an independent 
manner; it probably resembles the pediment in having 
the olive tree in the centre of the group and in the 
treatment of Athena. The salt spring, represented by 
two dolphins, corresponds closely to the indications in 
Carrey's and other sketches. Here, however, the resem- 
blance ends; and the subordinate figures on the vase 
are chosen freely by the artist to fill the sides of his 
field ; nor can we trace any direct connection between 
them and the pedimental figures. 

The subject, as treated on coins, varies considerably; 
but the usual type shows Athena and Posidon as if 
in friendly converse, with the olive tree between them ; 
it is a probable conjecture that this type reproduces 
the group set up to the north of the Parthenon and 
already more than once referred to. In any case it 
has no close relation to the pediment, any more than 
a relief published by Robert, 2 in which the two rival 

1 Especially Stephani, who first published the vase, Compte Rendu, 1872-3. 

2 Hermes, 1881, p. 60. 



THE PARTHENON 299 

deities await the arbitrament of their quarrel on either 
side of a table, on to which Nike is emptying the 
votes from an urn. On some coins, however, we 
have a figure of Athena and her olive tree which 
corresponds very closely to the figure on the pedi- 
ment, and which may help us in its restoration. 

Let us now see what may be inferred from Carrey's 
drawings, from the extant remains, and from other 
evidence, as to the subject and composition of the 
west pediment. 

In the centre was the olive tree, for which the 
socket can still be seen in the floor of the pediment ; 
to the left of it was Athena, advancing impetuously 
from behind it; and, as she advances, she turns half 
round to face her rival. Posidon, on the right of 
the olive, was not advancing but starting back, as if 
some sudden and unexpected object had sprung up 
in his path ; this object can hardly be anything but 
the olive tree itself, the symbol of his opponent's vic- 
tory and his own defeat. The result of the contest 
is thus clearly enough indicated by the attitude of 
the two chief figures — the confident and triumphant 
gesture of the goddess, who perhaps grasped a branch 
of the tree with her left hand, 1 and the hasty retreat 
of Posidon, who practically acknowledges his defeat, 
speak for themselves ; there is no need of messengers 
to declare the decision, nor of jurors to arbitrate. 
Behind each is a chariot, which serves, as at Olympia, 

1 B. M. Catalogue, 339. 13. 



3 oo ANCIENT ATHENS 

to frame the central group, and to facilitate the tran- 
sition from its colossal size to the smaller scale of the 
subordinate figures. The chariot of Athena is driven 
by her constant attendant, Nike, who here serves also 
to typify her victory; the chariot of Posidon has also 
a female charioteer, probably his consort, Amphitrite. 
Beside the horses on either side is another figure. 
These two have been interpreted as Hermes and Iris, 
the messengers and heralds of the gods, who may ap- 
propriately be present to 'marshal the rival claimants 
for the land ; their position and action is inconsistent 
with the suggestion that they are sent to carry a 
message from Zeus to the two competing deities. 

Behind the charioteers on either side, the rest of 
the pedimental field is filled with a number of sub- 
ordinate figures which have given rise to a very great 
variety of interpretations. A bare enumeration of 
these would require a considerable space, but, if we 
exclude mere random guesses, we may distinguish 
two main principles of interpretation, one or other of 
which is predominant in the more probable theories. 
Either these figures represent a series of minor divini- 
ties or of heroes, or else they are to be regarded as 
a series of local personifications serving to indicate 
the place where the event took place. The two prin- 
ciples are not indeed mutually exclusive ; it is possible 
for a deity or a hero to represent 'his chosen haunt 
or the place that is most closely associated with his 
worship; but such cases are the exception rather than 



THE PARTHENON 



301 



the rule. The first theory has found a recent advo- 
cate in Professor Furtwangler, 1 who identifies every 
figure, with much ingenuity, but upon rather inade- 
quate data. He sees on the left side Cecrops and his 
family as the partisans of Athena, on the right Erech- 
theus, with his daughter and grandsons, as the adhe- 
rents of Posidon ; he even goes so far as to identify 
the recumbent figures at the ends, and those next 
them, as the heroes, Buzyges and Butes, and their wives. 
This view may be contrasted with the theory of Brunn, 
who practically reduces the subordinate figures to a 
sort of animated map of the coast from the Eleusinian 
Cephisus to Sunium. A more probable application 
of the same method of interpretation may be seen in 
the identification of the recumbent figure at the left, 
or north end, as the river Cephisus, 2 of which the bed, 
marked by olive belts, can actually be seen to the 
north of the Acropolis, and the two end figures at 
the right end as Ilissus and Callirrhoe, also visible 
to the north ; in this w T ay we have a close analogy 
to the eastern pediment of the temple at Olympia, 
where the recumbent figures at the ends, according 
to the identification given by Pausanias, represent 
the river gods Alpheus and Cladeus; 3 and, while 



1 Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture, Appendix. 

2 The old conventional name of this figure is the Ilissus, chosen as that of the 
most famous river of Athens; this identification is, however, improbable on topo- 
graphical grounds. 

3 It is true that this identification has been disputed, but not, I think, on any 
sufficient grounds. 



302 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



these define the scene of the action that is portrayed, 
they are also placed in such a position as to corre- 
spond, when seen on the temple, to the actual and 
visible topography of the region. The style of the 
Cephisus, with its flowing, water-like texture, as we 
shall see, strongly confirms this identification; and if 
it be accepted, symmetry and composition alike require 
that the female figure kneeling beside him should 

be associated with 
him, as a spring 
or tributary. The 
only one among 
the other figures 
that offers any 
clear evidence to 
assist its identifi- 
cation is that of a 
seated man, with 

From West Pediment. a Pfirlistl flSfUre 

kneeling beside him and putting her arm round his 
neck. This figure, w r hich is still in situ on the pedi- 
ment, is seated on a great coil of a snake, and can 
hardly be any one but Cecrops ; the snake is an allu- 
sion to his earth-born origin ; in cruder representations 
he has a snake-like tail instead of legs. As Cecrops is 
said to have been present at the contest between Athena 
and Posidon, — as arbiter, according to some accounts, 
— and as he also appears as a seated and kingly figure 
on the Kertch vase, there is everything in favour of 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Cecrops and Daughter. 



THE PARTHENON 303 

his identification in the pediment. It follows naturally 
that the three female figures that appear beside him in 
Carrey's drawing are his three daughters, Aglauros, 
Herse, and Pandrosos. These maidens, in Attic legend, 
are best known in connection with the child Erichtho- 
nius, who was intrusted to their custody by Athena. 
It is therefore natural to identify the child wmo ap- 
pears between two of them as Erichthonius. It is, 
indeed, difficult to reconcile such an identification with 
the recorded version of the story, according to which 
the boy was given to them concealed in a chest which 
they were forbidden to open, and, when the maidens, 
or two of them, violated this command, they were struck 
with madness and threw themselves from the Acropo- 
lis. But it is probable, as Miss Harrison suggests, that 
this tale merely grew up to explain an obscure 
ritual ; it does not seem consistent with the fact that 
Aglauros was the special patroness of the Athenian 
youths, who took their oath in her precinct, and that 
Herse and Pandrosos were associated with her as 
fostering divinities. 

The figures on the right side, behind the chariot 
of Posidon, are even more difficult to identify, partly 
because what is left of them is extremely fragment- 
ary, and Carrey's drawing is of a summary char- 
acter. They consist of a seated female figure with 
two children, a reclining female figure with a nude 
figure — whether male or female is very much dis- 
puted — seated on her knees, and another seated female 



3 o 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

figure. 1 These are most commonly regarded as marine 
divinities associated with Posidon ; the tempestuous 
treatment of the drapery of the only one of them of 
which a considerable portion survives certainly adds 
to the probability of this theory, but certainty on this 
matter hardly seems to be attainable. 

Before considering the character of the pedimental 
sculptures, both in composition and in execution, it will be 
best to discuss also the probable restoration and interpre- 
tation of the east pediment. Here we have a more dirfi- 
cult task before us — one which at first sight may well 
seem hopeless, since Carrey's drawings fail us, except so 
far as concerns the few figures still extant from either end 
of the pediment. Fortunately, however, we possess in 
this case a relief, evidently derived from the eastern pedi- 
ment of the Parthenon, and probably reproducing it more 
faithfully than any monument that can be quoted from 
the western pediment. With the help of this relief, and 
of Professor Sauer's study of the indications on the 
building, it is perhaps possible to restore, with at least 
some degree of probability, the main composition. 

The subject of the pediment, as we learn from Pausa- 
nias, was the birth of Athena. We have, in Pindar and 
in the Homeric hymn to Athena, descriptions of this 
event which show us a poetical conception worthy to 
be set beside the sculpture of the Parthenon : — 

1 Furtwangler places yet another figure, which he identifies as Erechtheus, 
between this and the kneeling man (river god). But there does not seem to be 
room. With this disappears his identification of the three female figures as the 
daughters of Erechtheus with their children. 



THE PARTHENON 305 

" When by the craft of Hephaestus, by the blow of 
the bronze axe, Athena leaping forth from the crown 
of her father's head shouted with an exceeding great 
cry, and the heaven shuddered at her and mother 
Earth. 

" Whom Zeus the counsellor himself bore from his 
holy head, clad in her warlike arms, golden and glitter- 
ing. Reverence came upon all the immortals as they 
saw her. And she in haste rushed forward in front of 
aegis-bearing Zeus from his immortal head, brandishing 
a sharp spear. And great Olympus was shaken terribly 
at the might of the gray-eyed goddess ; and earth 
around resounded terribly; and the sea was moved, 
stirred in dark waves, and suddenly the foam was poured 
forth. And the bright son of Hyperion stayed his 
swift-footed horses for a long time, until the maiden 
Pallas Athena took from her immortal shoulders the 
divine armour ; and Zeus the counsellor rejoiced." 

The Attic vases that reproduce this scene show 
Athena, like a miniature doll, clad in armour, emerging 
from the crown of her father's head, as he sits enthroned 
among the gods ; Hephaestus, the axe still in his hand, 
starts back from the result of his blow ; Apollo with his 
lyre and Ilithyia stand near to Zeus. Though most of 
the figures in this composition, including that of Zeus 
himself, are appropriate enough, and indeed do not 
admit of much variation, it is improbable that Athena 
should have been represented in such a manner in the 
pediment of her temple. We should rather expect her 



3° 6 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Birth of Athena. 
On puteal at Madrid. 

to share with Zeus the position of honour in the centre 
of the group ; " she rushed forward in front of Zeus," as 
the Homeric hymn has it. The relief from the cylindri- 
cal well-head (puteal) now at Madrid shows us the scene 
treated in this way, with Athena moving impetuously 
forward in front of Zeus, who sits enthroned ; between 
the two, Nike floats to crown her. Behind Zeus stands 
Hephaestus with his axe, starting back ; and beyond him 
are the three Fates, who, on the other side, bring the 
composition round again to Athena. 1 The whole com- 
position is evidently derived from some well-known origi- 
nal, which can hardly be any other than this Parthenon 
pediment ; the figure of Athena has a strong resem- 
blance to the figure of Athena in the west pediment, 
and the figure of Hephaestus recalls the figure of 
Hephaestus still extant. It is hardly rash to infer that 
the Fates were also present on the pediment, in some 
form not unlike that we see on the Madrid puteal. 

If now we examine the indications noted by Professor 

1 The relief, being on a cylinder, is of course continuous. It is usually broken, 
for convenience of reproduction, between Hephaestus and the Fates. But it must be 
remembered that this break is arbitrary, and does not exist in the puteal. 



THE PARTHENON 307 

Sauer, we find that the central group consisted of a 
seated figure on a throne, evidently Zeus, and a standing 
figure in front of him to the right ; this must have been 
Athena. Hephaestus, from his prominent share in the 
action, probably came next to one of these two ; and the 
extant torso, with its inclination to the right, must be 
placed beyond Athena, if the action of starting back 
from the blow is to be retained. Behind Zeus is a space 
for another standing figure ; here Apollo, with his lyre, 
may appropriately be placed, if we may judge from the 
vases ; behind him are places prepared for one seated 
and two standing figures. The three Fates of the puteal 
at once suggest themselves as offering just what is re- 
quired by the conditions ; and thus we have the whole 
of the gap filled up on the left side. On the right side 
we must restore, behind Hephaestus, one seated and two 
standing figures, one of the two being Nike, if the 
extant torso be thought to belong to this pediment 
rather than to the western ; beyond them was a figure, 
now lost, hurrying to the right, corresponding to the 
figure in rapid motion to the left, which is still extant just 
beyond the gap on the left side. These two figures are 
evidently the messengers who are bearing the news of 
the birth of Athena from Olympus to the world beyond ; 
the one extant is usually identified as Iris, and she was 
probably matched by Hermes at the other side. These 
two, then, form a sort of limit within which is the as- 
sembly actually present at the divine event on Olympus. 
The identification of the rest of the subordinate figures 



308 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



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near the angles of the pediment 
has been much disputed. The 
only thing certain is that the whole 
scene is bounded by the sun-god 
rising from the waves at the left 
end, driving his team of four 
horses, and that the moon-goddess 
is sinking, also with her four-horse 
car, 1 ^beneath the field of the pedi- 
ment at the right end. Thus the 
scene is represented as taking 
place at sunrise, and instead of the 
local definition of scene which we 
found on the west pediment, we 
have a kind of cosmic setting 
which is appropriate to the more 
august theme. 

As to the other figures, we again 
meet with the same alternative 
theories as in the case of the west 
pediment, — the one, which would 
recognise in them gods or heroes 
present at the scene, the other, 
which would regard them as local, 
or in this case perhaps rather 
cosmic, impersonations. The latter 



1 The theory that this was the Moon, or probably 
Night, riding on a horse was finally disposed of by 
Professor Sauer's discovery of the remains of the 
other horses extant on the pediment. 



THE PARTHENON 309 

view seems in this case preferable. If they are gods, 
it would be difficult to explain why they are outside 
Olympus rather than within it. If heroes, — or, rather, 
heroines, for there is only one male figure among 
them, — it is not easy to explain their presence or 
the principle on which they are selected. Professor 
Furtwangler, for example, suggests the Attic hero 
Cephalus 1 for the reclining male figure, because of his 
association with the dawn ; but that association is so 
intimately connected with the personality of Eos 
(Aurora) that it is difficult to recognise an allusion to 
it in a scene where the dawn is represented only by the 
rising sun-god. The view that the figures beyond the 
messengers at either end are impersonations of nature is 
thoroughly in accordance with the practice of Greek art 
during its best period. But in this case we evidently 
must not look for personifications so strictly local as 
may perhaps be recognised in the west pediment. There 
the boundaries were marked by two rivers actually 
existing near the Acropolis itself; here they extend 
from sunrise on the east to moonset on the west, and 
so include the whole visible world. The personifications 
that have been suggested with most probability are in 
accordance with this principle. Thus Brunn suggested 
that the reclining male figure, who faces the rising sun, 
represents Mount Olympus, lighted by the rays of the 
dawn; and Olympus, in this case, is not a mere geo- 

1 He is commonly called Theseus ; I do not think any one now maintains this 
identification as probable or even possible ; but it affords a convenient name. 



3io 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



graphical impersonation, but is to be thought of as the 
typical mountain, the home of the Olympian gods. In 
the two seated female figures who come next, Brunn 
recognised the Hours, to whom, according to Homer, 
as they sat in their place at the gates of Heaven, " was 
intrusted the care of great Heaven and Olympus, to 
open and to close the solid cloud." Thus the mes- 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

" Horae " and Iris, from East Pediment. 

senger, Iris, in hurrying past them, would be repre- 
sented as passing from Olympus to the world beyond. 
In the corresponding space at the other end, next to 
the setting moon, are three female figures, one seated 
apart, the other two intimately associated, the one re- 
clining in the other's lap. These three figures are often 
called the Fates ; but we have seen that the Madrid 
puteal seems to indicate that the position of the 



THE PARTHENON 3 n 

Fates is nearer to the centre of the composition, where 
they find a more appropriate place. Brunn suggested 
that these figures represent the clouds that accom- 
pany the setting moon ; the impersonation of clouds, 
familiar in Greek literature, is, of course, possible 
enough. If this line of interpretation be right, 
another suggestion is that of Dr. Waldstein, who 
would identify the two closely associated figures as 
the Sea in the lap of the Earth. 1 It is impossible 
to reach certainty on such a matter as this ; but the 
general principle of interpretation may be accepted, 
while its application in detail may be left to indi- 
vidual taste. Keats may well have had these figures 
near the ends of the east pediment in his mind when 
he associated the sculptures of the Parthenon with 

" a billowy main, 
A sun, a shadow of a magnitude." 

So far we have been concerned mainly with the prob- 
able restoration and interpretation of the pediments ; we 
must now consider their artistic qualities both in compo- 
sition and in execution, and in doing this we must 
naturally devote our attention mainly to such portions of 
the sculpture as are still extant. It is impossible from 
this point of view to make any distinction between the 
two pediments, at least in their present condition; if 
more prominence is given to the composition of the west 

1 The chief objection to this is that the sun is represented rising from the waves 
of the sea — as it would on Olympus — and that the moon would not be likely to 
set in the sea at the same time — nor at all at Olympus. 



312 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



pediment and to the detailed execution of the eastern, 
this is only the result of the accident that has, in the one 
case, given us Carrey's drawing, in the other, a few 
figures in more perfect preservation. 

The strict symmetry which we find in earlier pedi- 
mental compositions, such as those of /Egina and Olym- 
pia, is observed also in the Parthenon, but with a certain 
admixture of variety. Thus the figures to the right and 
left of the centre, both in the east and west pediments, 
seem to have corresponded to one another in number 
and also, apparently, in action and position ; even the 
two children whom we see beside the figure just behind 
the chariot of Posidon correspond with one rather older 
child in the left half of the same pediment. Yet in spite 
of this evident correspondence, the figures on either side 
break up into groups which vary the monotony; thus 
the four figures behind Athena's chariot fall naturally 
into two groups of two each, while the four figures that 
correspond to them on the right side consist of a group 
of two in the middle, between two isolated figures. And . 
the extreme end figures of the west pediment are in one 
case a reclining male and a kneeling female figure, while 
at the other end the sexes are reversed. Again, in the 
east pediment we have noticed, next to the sun and 
moon, a group of three figures on each side, which are 
remarkably similar in pose, the one nearest the centre 
turning her head to look toward the centre, the one in 
the middle full-face, the outside reclining figure looking 
away from the centre ; yet here again each group is 



THE PARTHENON 313 

broken up, so that on the left the two seated figures are 
closely associated, and the reclining figure is isolated, 
while on the right the reclining figure and the seated 
figure next it are in intimate relation, and the other 
seated figure is separated from them. The gradual 
intensification of interest as the centre of the composi- 
tion is approached harmonises with the manner in which 
the eye is carried on from figure to figure and from group 
to group ; but here also there is variety ; the climax of 
interest in the centre of the composition is approached, 
as has been well said, in a succession of undulations 
rather than in a continuous and even slope. To descend 
to more technical details, extraordinary skill is shown in 
meeting the difficulties inherent in pedimental composi- 
tion, and proceeding from the elongated triangular shape 
of the field that has to be filled. The device of kneeling 
and standing figures here seems so appropriate that its 
necessity does not obtrude itself. The difference of size 
between the figures in the middle and those at the sides 
is so cleverly dealt with that it partly adds to the effect, 
partly escapes notice. The colossal stature of the prin- 
cipal figures in the west pediment seems to be demanded, 
not by the architectural conditions, but by the story 
itself : — 

KaXio kolI /xeydkoi crbv Tev^eaLv o>s re ueo) 7rep, 
d/x<£i? apL^rjA.0) ' Xaol 8 vir 6\'%oves rjarav. 

But it is softened by the device already employed at 
Olympia, of placing a chariot on each side of the central 

1 Horn. //. XVIII. 518-519. 



3 i 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

group ; these chariots with their teams not only separate 
the larger figures from the smaller, but also serve as a 
sort of frame, to throw the figures between them into 
higher apparent relief, and make them stand out con- 
spicuously. In the east pediment a more subtle device 
seems to have been employed. We have noticed the 
indications that there was, on either side of the central 
group, a seated figure, placed at an equal distance from 
the centre. It is probable that these figures were ap- 
proximately on the same actual scale as those next to 
them toward the centre ; while, at the same time, by a 
well-known convention of Greek relief, their heads were 
represented as about on a level with those of the stand- 
ing figures next to them on the outside. Thus, by a 
combination of natural and conventional scale, they made 
the change almost imperceptible, while, at the same time, 
they added to the variety of the whole group. 

For our knowledge of these and other characteristics 
of the composition we are to a great extent dependent 
upon inferences from more or less satisfactory evidence ; 
when we come to consider the style of the sculptures 
themselves, we must go to the surviving originals, 
which, though forming but a small proportion of the 
whole pediments, have sufficed to give them a supreme 
position among works of sculpture. We must, how- 
ever, remember that this, the unanimous verdict of 
modern critics and artists, finds no confirmation in the 
records of classical time. Pausanias passes over the 
Parthenon sculptures with less attention than he gives 



THE PARTHENON 315 

to the comparatively crude and archaic pediments and 
metopes of Olympia, and there is no other direct 
reference to them in all extant ancient literature, 
though the statue of the goddess within the temple 
is often mentioned. Strange as this may seem to 
us, we need not infer that the ancient Greeks set no 
store by these sculptures. Classical writers very 
rarely make any direct references to works of art ; 
the pride of the Athenians in their Acropolis and 
all it contained is well enough attested, and the 
pediments of the Parthenon, though not separately 
referred to, formed an essential part of the glory 
of their town. It is true that they are architectural 
sculptures, and so, from their mere size and number, 
could not all have been executed by the master re- 
sponsible for the design ; and, moreover, the execution 
varies to some extent even in the extant figures, and 
so betrays the work of different hands. Yet, even when 
compared with the finest specimens of ancient art that 
may be seen in our museums — and some at least of 
these may claim to be originals from the hand of an 
ancient sculptor — the Elgin marbles maintain their 
unrivalled excellence. Nothing could bear clearer 
testimony to the high standard of work attained by 
the sculptors who were employed under Pericles and 
Phidias to assist in the execution of their great designs. 
The two male figures that are best preserved are the 
reclining male figure, commonly called " Theseus," 
perhaps to be identified as Olympus, from the east pedi- 



3 i6 ANCIENT ATHENS 

ment, and the river-god Cephisus from the west pedi- 
ment. The two show a contrast in character which 
is thoroughly in accordance with the identifications 
proposed. The one is massive, solid, and heroic in 
proportions, though free alike from the clumsiness 
which often mars figures of such a character in later 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

"Theseus," from East Pediment. 



art, and from the athletic exaggeration that we noticed 
in the metopes ; his muscles, though strongly developed, 
are nowhere unduly conspicuous ; and his position is 
one of dignified repose. It is remarkable how little the 
general effect of this figure is impaired by the weathered 
condition of its surface ; there are, indeed, indications 
that it was never even finished with the minute elabora- 
tion which we see in the drapery on the same pediment. 



THE PARTHENON 



3i7 



The splendid design and proportions were left to speak 
for themselves, and consequently they still can impress 
us almost as when the work was fresh. The river-god 
from the west pediment, on the other hand, is a marvel 
for the rendering of softness of texture in the flesh ; 
every muscle seems relaxed, and the modelling is so flow- 
ing, as almost to suggest a fluid material, in contrast to 
the firmness of the muscles of the " Theseus." It seems 
a fair inference that this character of work was inten- 
tionally chosen by the artist as appropriate to a river- 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 



"Ilissus," from End of West Pediment. 

god ; and at the same time he gave a fuller meaning 
to the conventional reclining position which we see at 
Olympia, and which becomes common in later art. 
Here the body and limbs alike are relaxed, and seem 
as if they could hardly raise themselves from the ground. 
The female draped figures are even more beautiful 
in the details of their execution ; they also vary to some 
degree in excellence, and reach their climax in the three 
figures which come next to the moon-goddess at the 
right end of the east pediment. The drapery here is 



3 i8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

true both to its own material and to the forms which it 
covers ; it is not like the rather mannered Attic drapery 
of a slightly later date, which sometimes clings and shows 
the form of the body to an almost impossible degree, 
sometimes floats in masses and curves that are too ex- 
travagant in their independence. It may seem remarkable 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Three Draped Female Figures, from North End of East Pediment. 

that the earliest example of complete freedom from archa- 
ism also gives us the highest perfection in the treatment 
of drapery ; but the elaborate care which had been given 
by earlier Attic sculptors to the study of drapery was not 
wasted ; though it often led to stiff and frigid conven- 
tions, it created a style in which the merely accidental 
was scrupulously avoided; and the same principle is to be 
observed in the Parthenon pediments. In the Olympian 
pediments, and even in the metopes of the Parthenon, 
which, as we have seen, are the products of a more 
athletic school, accidental folds and details are not 
avoided, though they sometimes contrast strangely with 



THE PARTHENON 319 

the archaic stiffness of their surroundings. But in the 
drapery on these figures from the pediments nothing 
is accidental ; in spite of the extraordinary richness and 
freedom of the general effect, every fold is in its exact 
place in a system that permeates the whole. The 
broader masses are designed in harmony with the 
figures and with one another ; and the minuter folds 
into which they are subdivided are always in strict 
relation to these broader masses, so that, while giving 
them infinite variety, they never obscure their general 
form. The mastery in the rendering of surface which 
we find in the pediments is also an inheritance from 
the crude attempts of early Attic sculptors — especially 
in the contrast of the broader and smoother folds taken 
by a thicker and heavier material with the wavy or 
crinkled surface of a finer and lighter web. 1 It is true 
that there seems at first little resemblance between the 
mere convention which we often see in the earlier 
sculptures and the style of the pediments of the 
Parthenon ; yet, without such influence behind them, it 
could hardly have been possible for the men who 
worked under Phidias to have surpassed, not only 
their predecessors, but also their successors, in technical 
ability, as well as in nobility of conception. In the 
female figures themselves we see the same grandeur 
of proportions as in the male figures — here even more 
remarkable in contrast to the types that are familiar 

1 Possibly the contrast is between woollen and linen fabrics, as generally used in 
Doric and Ionic fashions respectively. 



3 2 ° 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



in later Greek art. No heads have been preserved 
among the pedimental figures, with the exception of 
that of the " Theseus," which is so badly weathered 
as to show nothing beyond the general proportions, 




De Laborde Head, probably from Parthenon Pediment. 

and a few inconsiderable fragments ; but a head which is 
better preserved, though much restored, most probably 
comes from one of the figures on the pediment ; it may 
well have been brought to Venice, where it was found, by 
a secretary of Morosini. This head, known from owners 



THE PARTHENON 321 

to whom it has belonged as the Weber head or the 
de Laborde head, 1 shows a style thoroughly in accord- 
ance with that of the pediments — the same nobility 
of form, and the same simplicity and breadth of model- 
ling; the hair, too, with its broad mass subdivided into 
finer tresses, reminds us of the drapery of the pedimental 
figures. It is impossible to say with certainty to 
which of the figures this head may have belonged ; 
it is sometimes assigned to Nike, who drives the chariot 
of Athena in the west pediment. 

The portion of the Parthenon pediments which excited 
in the highest degree the admiration of earlier travellers, 
was the chariot team of Athena in the west pediment. 
Wheler says, 2 " The Horses are made with such great Art 
that the Sculptor seems to have outdone himself, by giv- 
ing them a more than seeming Life : such a Vigour is ex- 
press'd in each posture of their prauncing, and stamping, 
natural to generous Horses." The fame of these horses 
led to their destruction ; for when Morosini captured 
the Acropolis in 1687 he tried to carry them off as a 
trophy, and broke them to pieces in the attempt. We 
have, however, still remaining, the horses' heads from 
the teams of the sun and the moon in the eastern pedi- 
ment, and these suffice to justify a description such as 
that of Wheler. The contrast between the two is 
marked ; the horses of the sun-god, as they rise from 
the sea, throw up their heads with nostrils dilated to 

1 It is still in the collection of the Marquise de Laborde at Paris. 

2 Page 361. 



322 ANCIENT ATHENS 

inhale the breath of the morning; at the other end of 
the pediment the horse of the moon-goddess — the 
only one of the team which is preserved — though tired 
as he approaches the end of his course, still shows his 
mettle ; indeed, this horse is equal in mastery of hand- 
ling to any piece of work in the Parthenon. An 
obvious comparison is with the beautifully sculptured 
horses of one of the chariots on the frieze ; 1 it resembles 
them in the wonderfully sensitive treatment of the skin 
of the muzzle, which seems almost to quiver, and its 
contrast with the smooth surface of the cheek showing 
the bone beneath ; but in the head from the pediment the 

eye is more prominent — 
a variation partly due to 
difference of relief and 
of lighting, but partly 
also to a distinct concep- 
tion of the type. These 
horses' heads, as well as 
the drapery of the female 

Horse of Selene, from East Pediment. r , , 

figures, show to now 
great a degree some of the sculptors who executed the 
pediments of the Parthenon had mastered the render- 
ing of texture in marble. 

The frieze of the Parthenon represents a continuous 
procession, which can hardly be any other than that 
of the Panathenaea. The composition starts from 
the south-west corner, whence it proceeds along the 

1 See p. 339, below. 




THE PARTHENON 323 

west and north sides on the one hand, and the south 
side on the other, to turn the corners of the east front ; 
here the head of each division approaches a group of 
gods seated to await the arrival of the festal throng. 
The order of the procession can be realised at a glance 
with the help of the accompanying diagram. The west 



knights chariots . various . cows and sheep 







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maidens 

magistrates 

gods 

priest and priestess 

gods 

magistrates 

maidens 



knights chariots . various . cows 



frieze is still in situ on the Parthenon (p. 336) ; that of 
the other three sides is preserved, mostly in the British 
Museum ; a certain number of slabs are in museums at 
Athens or elsewhere. 

The west frieze shows the Athenian knights prepar- 
ing for the procession. Some are already mounted, and 
advancing toward the north-west corner singly or in 
pairs ; others are bridling their horses, giving the last 
touches to their own toilet with the assistance of youth- 
ful attendants, or standing beside their horses ready to 
mount. Thus there is the greatest variety in the posi- 
tion of both horses and men. The preparations seem 
to overlap the corners at each end; at the extreme 
west end of the north side is one man yet un- 
mounted beside a rearing horse, and at the west 



3 2 4 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



end of the south side are some horses still walking, 
as if not yet included in the advancing troop of cavalry. 
This troop takes up more than half the length of the 
two long sides of the temple. The horses in it are 
bounding impetuously forward, sometimes in irregular 
order, sometimes in regular lines, six or seven abreast ; 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mausell & Sons. 

West Frieze of Parthenon. 
Rearing Horse. 



but the perfect seat of the riders, and the graceful ease 
with which they manage their horses, give dignity to the 
cavalcade, and regulate the impetuousness of its advance. 
In front of the riders come the chariots, each accom- 
panied by an armed warrior (01770/301x7)5), who either 
accompanies the driver in the car or mounts and dis- 
mounts while it is in motion. The former is the case 
on the extant examples from the south side, the latter in 
those from the north, and hence some have inferred 



THE PARTHENON 



325 



that different subjects are represented ; but in all prob- 
ability we need see here nothing but a concession to the 
exigencies of artistic representation. The driver always 
occupies the right of the car — a fact which shows us 
that in ancient Greece, as in England now, it was cus- 
tomary to take the left side of the road when passing 
another vehicle. Consequently, where, as on the south 
frieze, the chariots are advancing to the right, the armed 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Knights from North Frieze. 

warrior would be hidden behind the charioteer while 
mounting or dismounting, as may be realised by looking 
at the corresponding part of the north frieze. 

In front of the chariots, on both north and south 
friezes, is a series of groups on foot. One of these con- 
sists of bearded men who converse as they advance ; 



326 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



these are perhaps the thallophori, or bearers of olive 
branches, 1 or they may represent those who have been 
chosen in the contest of euandria, of manly bearing and- 
comeliness ; one of them is placing a wreath on his head. 
In front of them march the musicians playing on the 
flute and the lyre, and before them, again, men carrying 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

North Frieze of Parthenon. 
Older men. 

sacred vessels or sacrificial implements. All that is left 
of these on the south side is a fragment of a man bear- 
ing a flat trough ; on the north side are several similar 
figures, as well as some water carriers, holding great 
hydriae on their shoulders. The eastern portion of both 

1 The branches are not represented in sculpture, but may have been added in 
painting. 



THE PARTHENON 



3 2 7 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Man sell & Sons. 

North Frieze of Parthenon. 
Men bearing vases. 



sides is occupied by the procession of victims, — cows 
only, the Athenian offering, on the south side ; cows 
and sheep, the offering of the Athenian colonies, on 
the north. 

The cast frieze begins at each end with a series of 
maidens bearing bowls, jugs, censers, and other of the 
lighter sacrificial implements — an honourable task that 
was the privilege of well-born Athenians ; they approach 
from either side a group of men conversing, — five on the 
one hand and four on the other, — who may probably be 
identified as the nine archons, who have gone on in ad- 
vance, and are awaiting the arrival of the procession. 



328 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



The head of it is received at either side by marshals, 
and similar figures, distinguishable by their long cloaks, 
appear at intervals throughout the frieze to order and 
regulate the advance; at the same time they introduce 
variety into its uniform direction by the occasional pres- 
ence of figures standing full-front or turned to face its 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

North Frieze of Parthenon. 
Cows. 



progress. Between the two groups of archons are the 
twelve gods, seated on chairs to receive the hospitality of 
Athena and of her chosen city. They are divided into 
two groups, with a gap between them containing figures 
to which we must return later. Each group turns its back 
upon this central scene, and looks toward the approach- 
ing procession. There has been much controversy about 



THE PARTHENON 



3 2 9 



the identification of these gods ; but although there is 
still some room for difference of opinion, it can now be 
confined within very narrow limits. If we omit smaller 
accessory figures, there are seven gods and five goddesses 
present ; in the usual orthodox pantheon of later days 
the sexes were equally divided, Dionysus being often 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

North Frieze of Parthenon. 
Sheep. 

omitted. Reckoning him as present, there is no diffi- 
culty in identifying the seven gods and four out of the 
five goddesses — for it is evident that we must, in such 
an assembly, recognise all the enthroned figures as deities 
of Olympian rank, not mere attendants, impersonations, 
or heroes. To the left of the centre sits Zeus, on a 



33° 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



throne distinguished from the rest by a decorated arm ; 
next him is Hera, raising her veil, with her attendant 
Iris standing beside her. Next is Ares, easily to be 
recognised by his impatient and impulsive gesture, as he 
clasps his raised knee with both hands. Then comes a 
group of two figures, male and female, whose relation is 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

East Frieze of Parthenon. 
Maidens. 



intimate ; she is marked by her torch as Artemis and 
he can only be Apollo ; he leans on the shoulder of an- 
other god, the last on this side, whose alert pose would 
suffice to identify him as Hermes, the messenger ever 
ready to start on his errand, even apart from the charac- 
teristic hat or petasus which he holds on his knee. On 
the right of the centre, the place of honour corresponding 



THE PARTHENON 33 £ 

to that of Zeus is held by Athena herself, 1 here disarmed 
for the peaceful ceremony over which she presides ; she 
is in conversation with Hephaestus, who is distinguished 
by his strong muscles and the slightly awkward pose 
that hints discreetly at his lameness. Then comes a 
dignified bearded figure, who must be Posidon, grouped 
with a youthful god whose languid pose and soft and 
almost sensual type mark him as Dionysus. 2 Beyond 
him are two goddesses. The one at the end, against 
whose knee leans a winged boy holding a parasol, must 
be Aphrodite with Eros; for the other there are two 
possible identifications left — Hestia and Demeter. 3 
Neither should be omitted in such an assembly; but 
Hestia, though important in ritual, has little prominence 
in myth; and it is not easy to explain the absence of 
Demeter in a group which is evidently intended to be 
representative of the religion of the Athenian state. 

1 I give the accepted identification, though there is nothing apart from the posi- 
tion to show that this is Athena; even when the goddess lays aside her helmet she 
usually keeps her aegis. And it would be easy to call the figure Hestia, and to justify 
her position by the place of honour usually given her in sacrifice and her association 
with the hospitality of the state; the appropriateness of her association with Hephaes- 
tus is also obvious. In that case Athena would be absent from the frieze; perhaps 
her presence was sufficiently indicated by the great statue within the temple, visible 
through the great east door; her guests only would be on the frieze. It is stated in 
the B. M. catalogue that Athena holds the aegis folded in her lap, the snakes 
being visible; but the object is far from distinct, and has been variously inter- 
preted. 

2 Furtwangler makes this figure and the next Apollo and Artemis, and puts Diony- 
sus and Demeter in their place in the other group. The torch is equally suitable to 
Demet'jr; but the more vigorous and muscular form of the god there is not so suitable 
to Dionysus. 

3 Unless this difficulty is avoided, as suggested in Note 1 above, by recognising 
Hestia in the figure usually called Athena. 



33 2 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

East Frieze of Parthenon. 
Group of gods. 

If, however, we accept Demeter as the most probable 
name for this goddess, we must at the same time admit 
that she has little about her to suggest the goddess who 
was, in the fourth century, — though perhaps not in the 
fifth, — the most clearly characterised in art. For the 
mere purpose of identification, of course, a few ears of 
corn in the hand would have sufficed. 

In the central space between the two groups of 
deities — a space on which they turn their backs as 
they look toward the advancing procession — a scene 
is being enacted which is variously explained. There 
are two principal figures, a man in a long-sleeved tunic 
reaching to his feet, and a woman in full and rich 
drapery. She is receiving a cushioned stool from 
off the head of one of two smaller female figures,, 
the other carries a similar stool ; he is occupied, 
with the help of a boy who stands before him, in 
folding up 1 a large piece of some heavy stuff. The 
subject here represented must be some ritual act con- 



1 I accept this, the B. M. catalogue (p. 78) description, as the only one accurately- 
fitting the action of the figures. The only other possible explanation of the man's 
action is that he is inspecting the stuff, but that is less probable. 



THE PARTHENON 



333 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

East Frieze of Parthenon. 
Priest, priestess, and attendants, and group of gods. 

nected with the Panathenaic festival. It need not, how- 
ever, be necessarily the culminating act of that festival ; 
for, although its position is central, we must notice also 
that the gods turn away from it, and that it seems to 
have no direct connection with the arrival of the pro- 
cession. It seems, so to speak, to take place in the 
background, almost " behind the scenes " ; and, although 
its place is apparently so conspicuous, it is set over the 
middle of the great door, where the sight of the statue 
within the temple would distract the eye of a spectator 
from it. It is more likely, then, to represent some act 
of preparation; some have suggested that the man repre- 
sents merely a priest taking off his outer garment, 
but such a prominence is not usually given to vest- 
ments in Greek ritual, nor would the chief officiating 
priest be expected to perform any task so active as to 
require him to divest himself of his outer garment for 
the purpose. It has also been suggested that he is taking 
over or possibly inspecting formally the new peplos, 
which was regularly brought to offer to the goddess 
at the Panathenaic festival, but this explanation hardly 
suits his action; and the same objection applies to 



334 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Curtius' ingenious suggestion that the cloth is a 
carpet to be spread for the ceremonial entertainment 
offered to the gods. Otherwise this explanation would 
harmonise well with Professor Furtwangler's theory 
that the stools also were intended in the actual rite 
to invite and to symbolise the attendance of the gods, 
whom we see, as they presented themselves to the artist's 
imagination, on the frieze. Some allusion to the peplos 
is, however, certainly to be expected, and it is not to be 
found anywhere else in the frieze. Possibly we may 
here see the priest in the act of solemnly folding the 
old peplos to put it away, and so the scene implies 
the gift of the new T one, which could not well be actu- 
ally represented, since it was brought in the procession 
spread as the sail on the mast of a model ship. 

Much has been written about the interpretation of 
the composition of the whole, the intention of the 
designer in his representation of the different scenes 
and groups, and their relation to the actual local dis- 
tribution of the procession and the ritual acts that ac- 
companied it. It has been suggested, 1 for example, that 
the north and south friezes are meant to represent the 
two sides of the same procession, and that on the east 
frieze we see the head of the procession split and spread 
out, so to speak, on either side, by a convention familiar 
in early art with objects seen from the front. In a 
similar manner it is suggested also that the group of 
gods are to be thought of as seated in a semicircle, in 

1 A. S. Murray, in/.H.S. II. 323. 



THE PARTHENON 335 

the centre of which are the priest and priestess with 
peplos and stools, while the procession approaches them 
in a direct line. We have already seen reasons for doubt- 
ing this last theory; the scene in the middle of the 
frieze is evidently not what the gods are looking at, 
for they turn their backs on it. And, altogether, it is to 
be doubted whether any so literal interpretation of con- 
ventions should be applied here. The problem set to 
the artist was to provide a continuous band of decoration 
within the colonnade round the temple, and the subject 
chosen was the Panathenaic procession and its reception 
by the gods. The gods were naturally placed over the 
chief door of the temple at the east end, looking toward 
the advancing procession ; and to enable them to do this 
without the one group of gods turning their backs on 
the others, a scene of subordinate importance is inserted 
between the two. The procession could only approach 
the gods from the two ends of the east frieze, and at 
each end it turned the corner and was continued alonor 
the north and south sides. The duplication was merely 
a necessity of the field provided, and there is no need 
to see in it a conscious rendering of the two sides of the 
same procession — still less two different processions. 
There is, indeed, a certain amount of variety, as we 
have seen, which breaks the absolute symmetry, espe- 
cially in the front part of the north and south friezes; 
but this is only in accordance with the artistic prin- 
ciples which we find throughout the Parthenon sculp- 
tures, and an apparent lack of symmetry is avoided by 



336 ANCIENT ATHENS 

devoting the west frieze to preparation, rather than to 
continuous advance. 

The skill with which design and execution are 
adapted to architectural conditions is nowhere to be 
observed in higher perfection than in the Parthenon 
frieze. We have noticed, in the case of the metopes, 
how their position in the temple affected the distribution 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

West Frieze of Parthenon, in situ. 

of subjects. In the case of the frieze also the usual 
approach of a visitor was considered. It is sometimes 
said that the frieze could never have been properly seen 
in its position in the building. This may be admitted 
only so far as to allow that details could not have been 
studied as conveniently as they can now in the British 
Museum. But to admit the statement as substantially 



THE PARTHENON 337 

true would be to miss much of the essential character 
of the frieze ; architect and sculptor alike intended it to 
be seen where it was placed, and adapted their work 
accordingly. It was, indeed, set high up, and received 
no direct light from above ; but both disadvantages 
had their compensation. Seen between the columns 
of the outer colonnade, the procession would appear to 
one who walked along beside the temple from west 
to east to advance as he advanced, and this illusion 
was doubtless calculated. The excellent effect of an 
inner frieze, as seen through an outer colonnade, can 
best be appreciated from the view of the Theseum 
(p. 413). The question of lighting is more compli- 
cated, and evidently engaged the sculptor's careful 
attention. The light reflected from the white marble 
pavement below would be strong enough ; and the low 
relief was calculated to make the best of it. The relief 
is higher at the top than at the bottom — about two 
and one-fourth inches on an average, as compared 
with one and a half inches, 1 and so the surface has 
a slight outward slope, and the lower outlines of the 
projecting masses are in every case deeper cut and 
steeper than the upper outlines, because they can 
depend on no shadows to assist their effect. One 
can easily realise the advantage of this process in 
many parts of the frieze where the upper outlines, 
now that they are lighted from above, are indistinct, 
while the lower ones are often too heavy. 

1 These measurements are taken from the B. M. catalogue, p. 66. 



338 ANCIENT ATHENS 

The extraordinarily low relief in which the frieze 
is executed was doubtless chosen partly because of 
this question of lighting, partly because it had to be 
seen from below and from comparatively near, so that 
any strong projection would have marred and confused 
the general effect. This low relief — an average, as 
we have seen, of less than two inches in depth, though 
the height is three feet four inches, a proportion of 
about 1:20 — is used with the greatest skill, so as to 
represent without difficulty the team of a four-horse 
chariot, and the knights riding in some places as many 
as seven abreast. Nor is this effect mainly produced by 
drawing, such as could be used on a flat surface; where 
there are many figures side by side, the view of the series 
is taken, not from a position exactly perpendicular to 
the line of advance, but at a slight angle to the perpen- 
dicular, so that each figure slopes slightly in toward the 
background from front to back ; and thus there is pro- 
duced an illusion of depth beyond what is possible within 
the narrow limits of the relief. The technique is by no 
means uniform throughout ; the modelling of the nude, 
the drapery, the treatment of the horses, and in particu- 
lar of their manes, varies in different parts ; it is even 
perhaps possible to distinguish the different hands, and 
to assign certain portions of the frieze to them. The 
more skilful have never been surpassed in technique ; 
an example may be seen in the horses' heads from one 
of the chariot groups, chosen by Ruskin 1 to illustrate 

1 Aratra Pentelici, p. 174. 



THE PARTHENON 



339 




" what is meant by the virtue of handling in sculpture." 
" The projection of the heads of the four horses," 
he says, " one behind the other, is certainly not more, 
altogether, than three-quarters of an inch from the 
flat ground, and 
the one in front 
does not in reality 
project more than 
the one behind it, 
yet, by mere draw- 
ing, you see the 
sculptor has got 
them to appear 
to recede in due 
order, and by the 
soft rounding of 
the flesh surfaces and modulation of the veins, he has 
taken away all look of flatness from the heads. He has 
drawn the eyes and nostrils with dark incision, careful 
as the finest touches of a painter's pencil ; and then, 
at last, when he comes to the manes, he has let fly 
hand and chisel with their full force ; and where a 
base workman (above all, if he had modelled the thing 
in clay first) would have lost himself in laborious 
imitation of hair, the Greek has struck the tresses 
out with angular incisions, deep-driven, ever} 7 one in 
appropriate place and deliberate curve, yet flowing so 
free under his noble hand that you cannot alter, without 
harm, the handling of any single ridge." We may see 



By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

South Frieze of Parthenon. 
Chariot. 



34Q ANCIENT ATHENS 

the same or similar qualities of execution in many 
other parts of the frieze — in some of the knights, for 
example, and in some of the slabs with the restive 
cows and their escort. But pieces of such extraordinary 
merit are the exception. The frieze as a whole is 
rather characterised by a good general average of 
work, which suffices to give full effect to the design 
as a whole, and shows that by the time the frieze was 
made, there was working^ under Phidias a body of 
sculptors who had attained a very high degree of pro- 
ficiency. At the same time, some of them even show 
a rather dry and mechanical manner; such may be 
seen, to some degree, in the slab with Posidon and 
Dionysus, where the excellent preservation of the sur- 
face makes it conspicuous, in contrast to the freedom 
and beauty of the design. 

The question as to design and execution is thus 
brought prominently before us ; and, in the case of 
pediments and frieze, the conditions are much the same, 
since both necessitate an actual amount of work beyond 
what it would be possible for one man to carry out, 
while both show a unity of conception and composition 
which implies that the design in general must be that 
of a single man, or, if not, of men working in the closest 
collaboration. With the metopes, as we have seen, 
the case is different. Allowing a general supervision 
over the distribution of subjects, which may have been 
due to the architect, probably in consultation with 
Phidias as artistic director of the whole, we may well 



THE PARTHENON 



34i 



admit that each metope was designed and executed 
independently. Fortunately we have some information 
as to the practice of the Greeks in this matter. At 
Epidaurus we have the inscriptions giving the contracts 
for the building of the temple of Asclepius, including 
its sculptural decoration ; and we find that the sculptor 
Timotheus — the same man who was later employed 




Bv permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Group of Three Gods. 
From east frieze. 



on the Mausoleum, and so one of the most eminent 
artists of his time — undertook two different contracts : 
to supply models (tvttol) for sculptures which must 
rje those of the pediment, for the sum of 900 drach- 
mas ; and to supply acroteria for one gable for the sum 
of 2240 drachmas. These acroteria, which were found 
at Epidaurus, are two Nereids riding on horses, about 



342 ANCIENT ATHENS 

half life-size ; there was probably a third figure on the 
apex of the gable, and we know from the Erechtheum 
inscription 1 that the sculptors employed in carving the 
figures to be affixed to it, of about the same size, got 60 
drachmas a figure. It is a fair inference from these pay- 
ments that the high sum paid for the acroteria at Epi- 
daurus was given on condition that the sculptor should 
finish the figures himself and supply them in marble. 
The smaller sum which he received for the whole group 
of pedimental sculptures must have been for models 
only, probably in wax, and on a small scale — a mere 
sketch design from which the sculptors were to work ; 
certainly not finished full-scale models which would 
leave to those who carved the marble figures a purely 
mechanical task. If we apply to the Parthenon what 
we learn from the Epidaurus inscription, we may fairly 
infer that the various metopes were probably undertaken 
and completed by several more or less independent 
artists, who merely conformed to a general scheme. 
But, in the case of the pediments and of the frieze, 
the unity of general design, coupled with the variety 
of execution, implies that these portions of sculptural 
decoration of the Parthenon were carried out from small 
models supplied by one man by different hands, trained 
to a certain uniformity of style and technique, but vary- 
ing considerably in skill. Who the man was that sup- 
plied these models can hardly be a matter of doubt. 
We know that Phidias was intrusted with the general 

1 Seep. 372,below. 



THE PARTHENON 343 

supervision of the works at Athens under Pericles ; we 
cannot assign to any one else the commanding influ- 
ence that trained a band of artists, at first barely free 
from the trammels of archaism, to work with a high de- 
gree of skill and a mastery of technique that has never 
been surpassed. The colossal gold and ivory statue of 
the goddess within the Parthenon was from his design. 
When we find also, in the sculpture decorating the 
same temple, great designs that harmonise with the 
whole scheme of temple and statue, and that themselves 
show a wonderful advance on anything that had before 
been attained in such great architectural compositions, 
it does not seem possible to attribute these designs 
to any other master than Phidias himself. This attri- 
bution, though it rests on no direct ancient authority, 
has been approved by the general consensus of modern 
times, and hardly admits of serious dispute. 

The excellence of the architectural sculptures of the 
Parthenon, and the extent to which they are still pre- 
served, give them a unique value for us. But we must 
remember that the Parthenon, like most other Greek 
temples, was intended in the first place to shelter and 
protect the statue which it contained. This statue of 
Athena Parthenos, the " Maiden Goddess " of Athens, 
was among the most famous statues of antiquity, and we 
possess both detailed descriptions of it and copies which 
enable us to understand and supplement these descrip- 
tions. At the same time, we cannot expect these copies 
to give us much help toward realising the artistic quali- 



344 ANCIENT ATHENS 

ties of the original or the impression which it produced. 
In the Athena Parthenos of Athens, as in the Zeus of 
Olympia, Phidias embodied the ideal type of the deity, 
as it presented itself to the Greeks ; and he embodied it 
in such a form that, " while following the orthodox Greek 
conception, he added something to it," and that "no one 
in later times could without difficulty think of the deity 
in any other shape," to quote two only of the numerous 
eulogies of his work recorded by ancient writers. The 
higher imaginative qualities of his masterpieces we can 
only infer — so far as we can infer them at all — from the 
influence which he exercised on contemporary and later 
art ; as to their type and execution we may learn some- 
thing from the best of the sculptures made, under his 
direction, to decorate the building in which the colossal 
statue was to be set up, and from such other nearly con- 
temporary works as give us some reflection of his style. 
We must, however, admit that the only statues which a 
Greek would have recognised as representative of the 
greatest sculptor of Greece are irretrievably lost, and 
that it is hopeless to try to recover them, except in 
accessories and external matters. With this reservation 
always in mind, let us attempt to obtain some general 
notion of the appearance of the statue in the surround- 
ings for which it was designed. To help us in this 
attempt, we have, besides the descriptions of Pausanias 
and Pliny, which are fairly detailed, various copies of the 
statue, which unfortunately vary in artistic merit in 
inverse ratio to the completeness of their preservation. 



THE PARTHENON 



345 



Some of these tell us nothing but what we could assume 
without their help about any Phidian statue. The most 
important for our present purpose are an unfinished 
statuette, not without artistic merit, which was found in 
Athens, and is generally known as the Lenormant statu- 
ette ; and a larger, 
more elaborate, and 
better - preserved fig- 
ure, known from the 
place of its discovery 
in Athens as the Var- 
vakeion statuette, 
which is of Roman 
workmanship of the 
basest and most me- 
chanical sort. To 
them may be added a 
statuette found at Pa- 
tras. 1 This, as well as 
the Lenormant statu- 
ette, has the advan- 
tage of giving, in part 
at least, the relief on 
the shield ; this relief 
is better preserved on the Strangford shield at the British 
Museum, which also shows traces of the painted design 
on the inside. The relief on the basis is indicated on 
the Lenormant statuette, and on the Pergamene copy. 2 

1 Published by Mr. Cecil Smith in the British School Annual, III. PI. ix. 

2 Jahrb. V. p. 114. 




Athena Parthenos — Lenormant 
Statuette. 



346 ANCIENT ATHENS 

A visitor, on entering the Parthenon through the 
eastern door, would have the statue directly facing him ; 
but the "dim religious light " of the interior — especially- 
noticed by earlier travellers who saw the church before 
its destruction — would at first prevent him from seeing 
distinctly, unless he happened to have come early on the 
summer festival of the goddess, when the beams of the 
rising sun fell on her statue through the open door. As 
his eyes became used to the contrast from the bright 
sunlight without, the first impression he would receive 
of the colossal statue would probably be the extraordinary 
richness of its decoration and of its materials, and the 
contrast between the smooth white surface of the ivory 
and the broken glimmer of light on the embossed and 
inlaid surfaces of the gold. Then by degrees he 
would pass from such details to the contemplation of 
the statue as a whole, of the grandeur and nobility 
of the image in which Phidias had embodied the 
Goddess of Athens. Here we can only follow him 
imperfectly, by the help of our imagination ; but we 
have a fairly complete notion how he might have de- 
scribed what he saw. 

The statue was about thirty feet high, or thirty-eight 
including the basis. 1 The goddess was represented as 
standing, her right knee slightly bent and advanced so 
that the shape of the limb was modelled through the 



1 Pliny says 26 cubits (=38 feet) ; the Victory was 4 cubits (=6 feet), and it 
is about one-fifth of the height of the statue in the Varvakeion copy, which is prob- 
ably mechanically accurate. 




Athena Parthenos— Varvakeion Statuette. 



THE PARTHENON 349 

drapery, her weight resting on her left leg, which was 
concealed behind the heavy descending folds of her 
Doric chiton. This garment, of heavy texture, girt 
above the diplois, or upper fold, was the only one she 
wore ; above it was the scaly aegis, covering only her 
shoulders and the upper part of her chest, with the gor- 
goneion set in the middle of it. On her head was a 
most elaborate helmet ; it had a triple crest carried by a 
sphinx and two gryphons, the raised cheek pieces had 
a Pegasus in relief, and on the frontlet was a row of 
the fore parts of horses. This helmet, of which we can 
best judge the effect from gems and coins, and from a 
gold plaque found at Kertch, was a piece of ornate 
metal work such as one would associate with the name 
of a Benvenuto Cellini rather than of a Phidias ; it illus- 
trates the fact that Phidias was also famous as a fine 
worker in metal; Martial's repeated expression, — 

" Phidiaci toreuma caeli " 

is probably not purely conventional. But more than 
this, it shows that Phidias did not think this exercise of 
his skill out of place in the details of a colossal statue. 
The left hand of the goddess rested on her shield, and 
her spear was supported against it. Within the shield 
coiled the snake Erichthonios, and its external surface 
was embossed with a representation of the battle of the 
Greeks and Amazons. It was in this scene that Phidias 
is said to have introduced the figures of himself and 
Pericles which were made the basis of a charge of sacri- 



350 ANCIENT ATHENS 

lege against him ; it is even stated that they were so 
cunningly affixed that they could not be removed with- 
out loosening the bonds that held the framework of the 
statue together. The two have been recognised on 
the Strangford shield, Pericles in the warrior whose 
arm half conceals his face, and Phidias himself in the 
bald-headed old man who swings an axe vigorously 
above his head. 1 On the inside of the shield was repre- 
sented the battle of the Gods and Giants ; traces of this 
subject have been found on the inside of the Strangford 
shield ; this may well have been intended to reproduce 
the effect of a woven or embroidered lining. 2 Even 
the soles of the sandals were ornamented with a band of 
relief, representing the Lapiths and Centaurs ; on the 
basis was an extensive composition, the creation of 
Pandora, in the presence of twenty deities. On the 
extended right hand of Athena was placed a figure of 
Victory, itself fully life-size. 8 This extraordinary elabo- 



1 Plutarch says he held a stone ; such a figure appears on the shield of the Lenor- 
niant statuette. The various copies differ, and none of them is to be taken as an 
exact reproduction. In the example from Patras the figures are smaller, and so better 
adapted to the field. 

2 So Cecil Smith, I.e., p. 134. 

3 The right hand and the Victory rest on a plain column in the Varvakeion 
statuette. It has been disputed whether this column existed in the original. It 
appears on two other copies, a coin and a relief, but in two different forms. If it 
was present in the original, it is difficult to explain Pausanias' silence about it, and 
also the absence of all decoration upon it. Possibly the weight of the Victory may 
have proved too much for the elaborate framework of the chryselephantine statue 
and consequently the arm may have had to be supported by a column added later ; 
but if so, it is difficult to explain the various forms taken by the column in various 
copies. However this may be, it is practically certain that the column did not exist 
in Phidias' original design. 



THE PARTHENON 35 i 

ration of details and accessories was in accordance with 
the precious nature of the materials employed — ivory 
for the nude parts, gold, possibly enriched with enamel, 
for the drapery and armour, and precious stones for the 
eyes. That the effect was rich and sumptuous in the 
extreme is evident from the descriptions that we pos- 
sess ; that it was also of marvellous beauty and of the 
highest and most ideal imagination we must infer from 
what we know of Phidias and from the unanimous 
verdict of antiquity. 

The cella in which the colossal statue was placed 
was not bare of other things. We possess a series of 
inventories of the contents of the Parthenon, made by 
the various boards of treasurers as they handed them 
on from one to another. We are not surprised to find 
that these vary from time to time with the vicissitudes 
of the city ; for Pericles, in his estimate of the resources 
of Athens, included not only the public and private 
dedications on the Acropolis, but even the gold of 
the chryselephantine statue itself. Among the objects 
recorded in the Hecatompedos Naos, the cella of the 
temple, at various times, are many golden crowns and 
rings and cups of various forms ; a silver altar of 
incense and a silver bowl for lustral water; and a gold 
statue of Victory, which appears after the expulsion of 
the Thirty Tyrants and is conjectured by Michaelis 1 to 
have been dedicated from their confiscated property. 
The closed back chamber, the Parthenon proper, served 

1 Parth. p. 301. 



352 ANCIENT ATHENS 

rather as a storehouse, containing not only cups and 
crowns, arms and armour, chairs and beds, musical instru- 
ments, and other objects, but fragments broken from 
larger dedications, especially if they were of precious 
metal. The prodomus and the opisthodomus of the 
temple were also adapted to serve as treasuries by the 
insertion of bronze gratings which extended between 
the columns from floor to roof, those between the cen- 
tral columns being made to open and serve as gates. 
In the pronaos were cups and lamps, mostly of silver, 
and some crowns of gold. The opisthodomus, as we 
have already seen, 1 was used as the treasury of the state. 

1 See p. 222, above. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND THE TEMPLE OF VICTORY 



If the Parthenon shows us the perfection of Doric 
architecture, no less does the Erechtheum offer the most 




ERECHTHEUM FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. 



beautiful example of the Ionic order, and of the Ionic 
order in its Attic form, with an added grace and delicacy. 
The influence of the Erechtheum on later architecture 
has probably been the greater. For the beauty of the 



2 A 



353 



354 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Parthenon depends mainly upon subtle harmonies of 
proportion and mathematical exactness of curves, such 
as defied the imitation of later architects or masons; 
while the rich carvings of the Erechtheum and the 
ornate design of its parts could be copied with more or 
less success, and have served as models for classical 
buildings both ancient and modern. At the same time v 
the perfection with which the carving is executed is also 
beyond imitation, as may be seen when it is contrasted 
with the later repairs that are incorporated in the temple 
itself. Indeed, for mere fineness of execution in detail, 
it is surpassed by no classical building ; the only things 
that can be compared to it are, perhaps, the Cnidian 
Treasury at Delphi and the finest of the Sidon Sar- 
cophagi. 

In order to understand the present state of the build- 
ing, it is necessary to have some general notion of its 
history. We have already noticed the records of its 
building, damage, and repair in classical times. In 
Christian times it was turned into a church ; the great 
north door was repaired, the western corridor was used as a 
narthex or ante-chapel, and the main part of the building 
was divided into a nave and aisles by rows of columns, 
of which the foundations still remain. An apse was 
, constructed within the eastern portico, and a carved 
marble iconostasis was set up, of which some panels may 
still be seen in the temple. In Turkish times it served 
as the harem of the governor of Athens ; to make an 
extra room the spaces between the columns of the north 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 355 

portico were walled up. In this state we see it in Stuart's 
drawing. Lord Elgin carried off to London the most 
northerly column of the eastern portico, and also one of 
the Caryatides, which he replaced by a plain pillar ; this 
pillar appears in views of the Erechtheum taken between 
his time and the Greek War of Independence. This 
seems perhaps the least defensible of his acquisitions, 
but his action was to a great extent justified by subse- 
quent events. During the siege of the Acropolis by the 
Turks, in 1827, the roof of the north portico was de- 
stroyed, and the building was otherwise damaged. It 
was rebuilt to a certain extent between 1838 and 1846; 
the place of the Caryatid in the British Museum was 
supplied by a terra-cotta cast taken from the original ; 
another was restored, mainly in marble, in a very taste- 
less manner ; and the whole building was patched, partly 
with brick, partly with marble, into the rather motley 
state in which it now appears. Soon after this, in 1852, 
a storm blew down the engaged columns on the west 
end and the wall between them — a calamity the less 
to be deplored since these were themselves only a repair 
of Roman date. At the present time (1902) a project is 
on foot for rebuilding some more of the temple, espe- 
cially of the north portico, with the help of original frag- 
ments still 'lying on the ground. 

The plan of the Erechtheum is unique, and has given 
rise to much speculation. It was evidently partly due 
to the conformation of the ground, partly dictated by 
the necessity of including within a single building sev- 



356 ANCIENT ATHENS 

eral small shrines or sacred objects that did not readily 
fit into the normal plan of a Greek temple. The east- 
ern part of the building is ordinary enough ; it consists 
merely of an oblong cella faced by a portico of six Ionic 
columns ; this is on the higher level. It joins at the back 
on to a chamber at a lower level, which had no direct 
access from outside, but opened at the west on a sort 
of broad corridor, which had windows to light it on 
the west, and was entered' from the north and south 
ends by doors leading into projecting porticoes. The 
north portico, which was the principal entrance, was 
also the most richly ornamented part of the building; 
it contained the great door and was supported by six 
columns, four in the front and one at each side. The 
south porch was only entered from the west corridor 
by a small doorway, which gave access to a narrow 
staircase leading up to the higher level ; its roof was 
carried by six richly draped " maidens," as they are 
called in the inventory, though the later term, Caryatides, 
is now generally applied to them. 

It is generally agreed that the eastern cella is the 
temple of Athena Polias, built to hold her ancient 
wooden image, which was the centre of many cere- 
monies of the Athenian state religion. The western 
portion was the temple of Erechtheus, and contained 
many objects associated with his worship ; before these 
can be considered it is necessary to describe this part 
of the Erechtheum rather more in detail. As to the 
central chamber, there is not much to be inferred from 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 357 

the extant remains. 1 Practically nothing can be traced 
except the level of its floor, which is the same as that 
of the north portico outside ; the position of the wall 
which separated it from the eastern cella can be 
clearly seen, and also those of two different partitions 
separating it from the western corridor — one narrow, 
and therefore probably of wood, one broader, and 
therefore probably of marble. It is to be noticed that 
the original working of the surface up to a certain 
height is prepared to suit the narrower partition, 
which is slightly to the east of the other ; but that 
in the upper courses holes are left for the bonding 
in of the upper part of the marble partition. It 
follows that the substitution of the marble for the 
wooden partition was a change made during the con- 
struction of the building. The difference of level 
between the eastern cella and the central chamber 
is about nine feet ; but there is no indication to 
show whether there was a staircase joining the two, or, 
indeed, any communication between them. Beneath 
the floor of the central chamber there is just room for 
a crypt ; but the surface of the rock is left in its natural 
state and shows no indication of any structures resting 
on it. On the other hand there is, in the north-west 
corner of this crypt, a door leading into a correspond- 
ing crypt below the north portico ; and close to this door 

1 The foundations for rows of columns, dividing this chamber into a nave and 
aisles, date from later times, as may be seen by a glance at the materials of which 
they are constructed. 



358 ANCIENT ATHENS 

are some clefts in the rock which, as has recently been 
pointed out, 1 have some resemblance to the form of a 
trident. This may, as Dr. Nilsson suggests, be the 
o-xn^a TpiaivT}*; which was shown to visitors in the 
Erechtheum, and associated with the tale of the con- 
test between Athena and Posidon for the land. 2 On 
the other hand, this sacred object has usually hitherto 
been identified with some rather shapeless marks, such 
as might possibly have been made by a blow of a 
trident, in the rock just the other side of the door 
between the two crypts ; and just above these marks 
there was a square hole, of which the edge may still 
be seen, in the pavement of the north portico, so that 
visitors could look down into the space beneath. 
Whichever of these be the authentic mark, — the 
words of Pausanias suit that pointed out by Dr. 
Nilsson better, while the architectural indications seem 
rather to fit the marks below the north portico, — the 
door between the two crypts may probably have had 
something to do with the exhibition or lighting of the 
symbol of Posidon. Beneath the western corridor 
is a large cistern, and this, though it shows traces of 
repair and reconstruction at various later dates, appears 
to have formed part of the original plan of the building. 
It was once roofed over by great blocks of marble, of 
which one end still remains, built in to form a course of 
the western wall, and cut on the outside to make a 
step; the other ends of these blocks rested on the 

1 By Dr. Nilsson, /.Zf. 5. XXI. p. 325. 2 s ee pp. 295-296. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 359 

foundation that carried the partition between the cor- 
ridor and the central chamber. The arch now visible 
was substituted when those blocks were broken away. 
The cistern beneath was probably the OdXacraa formed 
by Posidon when he struck the rock with his trident ; 
it is large enough to produce the sound of waves that 
was audible when the wind was in the south. 

The west end of the building is of a very peculiar 
character, and shows certain features which are only 
explicable on the supposition that there were early 
precincts and structures in this region that could not 
be moved, and to which the new building had to be 
fitted and accommodated. One of these was the Pan- 
droseum, in which the sacred olive tree of Athena 
grew ; this we know to have been just outside the 
Erechtheum on the west ; and its existence here was 
probably the reason why the Erechtheum, or at least 
its western portion, had to be entered from the north. 
There is a small door in the west corridor opening 
into the Pandroseum ; and it was also approached by 
a door in the corner of the north portico, where it 
overlapped the north-western corner of the temple. 
There being no great door in the west wall, light had 
to be admitted in some way into the corridor and the 
chamber behind it. This was effected by making the 
west wall solid only to a height of about twelve feet 
above the floor; on this low wall rested a row of 
columns. The appearance of the western end of the 
temple, as it stood before it was blown down by the 



360 ANCIENT ATHENS 

storm of 1852, may be realised with the help of Stuart's 
sketch. Between the columns w r ere square windows in 
the three central intercolumniations. This arrange- 
ment, however, if ancient at all, does not go back 
beyond Roman times; for the workmanship of the 
fallen columns that stood on the wall is evidently a 
later imitation, similar in style to that we see in the 
temple of Rome and Augustus. The shape of these 
columns is peculiar; they are adapted to being built 
into a wall, and may more accurately be described as 
attached semi-columns, set against square pillars, not 
unlike what we see in the proscenia of theatres. This 
form had not yet been developed at the time when the 
Erechtheum was built ; and it is probable that the 
columns set up on the wall, which preceded these 
Roman substitutes, and are mentioned in the inventory 
of 409 b.c, were complete columns of the usual form. 
The construction of the south-west corner of the 
temple is peculiar; on the southern side of this corner 
is the Caryatid portico, which is called in the inven- 
tory 77 TTpocrTacns 77 npbs tco KeKpoirCcp, 1 " the portico in 
front of the Cecropium." This portico is built on the 
foundations of the peristyle of the Old Temple ; and 
there is in the west wall of the Erechtheum a huee 



1 The dative with irpbs here implies that the Cecropium was within the temple. 
In similar expressions, when the allusion is to something outside, the genitive is 
used; e.g. 6 irphs rod Uavdeoaeiov to?x<>s or der6s, "the wall or pediment turned 
toward the Pandroseum." But the usage cannot be pressed too strictly ; for this 
very corner is also called r\ yuivla rj irpos rod KeKpo-rrlov, and the portico in front of 
the great door is called r) irp6<TTa<TLS ij irpbs rod dvpupLaros. 



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THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 361 

block of marble, — the largest in the whole building, 
— one end of which rests on this same foundation. 
Beneath the middle of this block there is a vacant 
space, now partly filled by a rough pillar recently con- 
structed to support it where it is cracked. The pur- 
pose of this arrangement must have been to support 
the weight of the south-west corner of the Erechtheum 
without disturbing some object below it that had to 
be respected ; and the inventory shows us that this 
object was the Cecropium — probably a small vaulted 
tomb of primitive structure, which has now completely 
disappeared. In the upper part of this same corner 
there is a curious recess in the south wall, perhaps 
indicating a gallery at this level, and some indica- 
tion that there w T as a door, at the same high level, 
through the most southerly intercolumniation of the 
w T est wall ; this would presumably have led on to the 
roof of a portico bordering the Pandroseum on its 
south side. This is practically all the evidence that 
can be gathered from the building in its present state 
as to the nature and purpose of its different parts. 
We may gather something more from the inventory 
of the finished and unfinished portions of the building 
in 409 b.c, and from the accounts of the continuation 
of the work in the following years ; but these descrip- 
tions are intended to assist the commissioners in the 
identification of the various blocks, not to state the 
purpose of different parts of the building, and con- 
sequently are not so instructive, from this point of 



362 ANCIENT ATHENS 

view, as we might have hoped. Almost the only 
object of any importance that they mention, and that 
is not otherwise known to us, is the altar of the ©uttxqos 
in the north portico. Pausanias, on the other hand, 
mentions a good many things he saw in the temple. 
He appears to have entered the building by the north 
portico and the great door, and he saw within — that 
is to say, in the west corridor — three altars, one of 
Posidon, on which they also sacrificed to Erechtheus 
by command of the oracle, one of the hero Butes, and 
one of Hephaestus ; and on the walls were paintings 
of the family of the Butadae, He was also shown 
the salt spring and the trident mark. Within the 
•temple of Athena Polias, which, as we have seen, 
probably occupied the eastern division of the building, 
he saw not only the ancient image said to have fallen 
from heaven, but also the lamp made by Callimachus, 
which had a palm tree as its chimney, and burnt all 
the year with one filling of oil, an ancient Hermes 
completely covered with myrtle boughs, a stool made 
by Daedalus, and some Persian spoils from the battle 
of Plataea, the breastplate of Masistius, and the dag- 
ger of Mardonius. It appears from the order of his 
description that he must have been able to pass 
from the western to the eastern part of the building 
without going outside. Another piece of topographi- 
cal evidence in this connection is the story told by 
Philochorus 1 of a certain dog, which "entered the 

1 Apud Dionys. Hal. de Din. 13. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 363 

temple of Athena Polias, descended into the Pandro- 
seum, and then leapt up on to the altar of Zeus Her- 
keios under the olive tree and lay down there." This 
beast may have proceeded by the gallery and door of 
which we notice some indications above the south- 
west corner of the Erechtheum. 

The information derived from these sources is not 
easy to interpret and to piece together; and certain 
things about the building — especially the purpose 
and arrangement of the central chamber — must remain 
uncertain. We have already noticed that it is not 
easy to ascertain whether there was an earlier build- 
ing on the site of the Erechtheum. Perhaps, in view 
of the various devices we have noticed for including 
the various sacred objects that existed in this region, 
and for providing communication between them, it is 
more probable that these objects stood originally in an 
open precinct, and that the present Erechtheum was 
the first attempt to give them an architectural frame. 
It is possible, moreover, as Professor Furtw'angler sug- 
gests, that the internal divisions of the temple may also 
have been affected by the necessity for providing similar 
accommodation, for ritual purposes, to that which had 
existed in the old Hecatompedon or Temple of Athena 
— that temple in which Athena had placed Erech- 
theus, and shared her worship with him, or where, 
according to another version, the rival cults of Athena 
and Posidon were reconciled with a single building. 
It is certainly a curious coincidence that the Erech- 



364 ANCIENT ATHENS 

theum, like the Old Temple, had a central chamber, 
entered from the west, though there is no clear evi- 
dence to show that this chamber was also divided into 
a northern and southern portion, like the correspond- 
ing room in the Old Temple ; * and when we consider 
how much modification of plan the western part of 
the Erechtheum has undergone to fit it to its local 
surroundings, it would be rash to make any inferences 
on this matter. It seems clear, however, from the 
level, that the central chamber forms part of the west- 
ern portion, or Erechtheum proper, rather than of the 
eastern portion, or temple of Athena Polias. 

The nomenclature of the temple is rather confusing ; 
its official title in the inventory is 6 vecos kv a> to apyaiov 
ayaX/u,a, " the temple containing the ancient image " ; 
and the names Erechtheum and Temple of Athena 
Polias, which belong properly to its western and eastern 
portions respectively, are each of them sometimes, in 
common speech, applied to the whole building, just as 
the name Parthenon came to be applied to the whole 
temple instead of to its western chamber. There is no 
need to let this apparent confusion affect our notion of 
the purpose and use of the building. The eastern cella, 
or temple of Athena Polias, was built to house the ancient 
image fallen from heaven, which had once been set up in 
the Old Temple, which Phidias had perhaps intended to 
transfer to the Parthenon, and which finally, under more 

1 The words of Pausanias, diwXovp yap i<rn rb otKrjfia, do "not, in their context, sug- 
gest this meaning. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 365 

conservative influences, found a home almost on the same 
spot where it had always been worshipped. This image 
was the centre of all the most sacred and ancient 
religious rites of the Athenian state. For it the peplos 
was woven to be presented at the Panathenaic festival ; 
and it was taken in solemn procession to be dipped in 
the sea at the Plynteria. The priestess of Athena was 
especially concerned with the worship in this temple, and 
close to it were the rooms where the kpyao-Thai wove 
the peplos under her direction, and where the two 
Arrhephoric maidens lived for their year of service before 
they went on their mysterious errand to carry to the 
cleft in the earth, near the gardens, the box which they 
might not open. In the Pandroseum, too, which may 
have had some direct communication with the temple 
of Athena, perhaps by a gallery along the south wall of 
the Erechtheum, was the sacred olive tree of Athena, and 
beneath this was the altar of Zeus Herkeios, probably 
representing the original altar in the court of the house 
of Erechtheus, which was identical with the earliest 
temple of Athena. The rest of the temple, the Erech- 
theum proper, was given up to the worship which was 
here associated with that of Athena; her rival, Posidon, 
is here identified with her favoured hero, Erechtheus, 
an identification expressly ratified by the oracle which 
ordered that sacrifice should be offered to both upon the 
same altar. The priest attached to this cult was. one of 
the descendants of the hero Butes, the Butadae or Eteo- 
butadae, whose paintings were seen in this part of the 



3 66 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



temple by Pausanias. The close association of this cult 
with the sacred olive is attested by the fact that when 
the Epidaurians requested from Athens some wood 
from the olive tree to make statues of in accordance 
with an oracle, it was granted on condition of their 
offering an annual sacrifice to Athena Polias and to 
Erechtheus. We have already noticed the arrange- 
ments in this part of the Erechtheum for the preser- 




Part of North Portico of Erechtheum. 

vation and exhibition of the trident mark and of the 
salt pool. It is said that the guardian snake of the 
Acropolis, sometimes supposed to represent Erichthonius, 
also had its quarters here. The Erechtheum, in fact, 
was a visible symbol of the reconciliation of the rival 
cults, and contained a recognition of all their essential 
features, while the Parthenon, by its sole dedication to 
Athena and its express declaration of her victory, tended, 
perhaps too much for the orthodox and conservative 
religion of the day, to subordinate all other cults to hers. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 367 




Capital of Column, North Portico of Erechtheum. 



The two buildings supplement each other as much in 
their religious significance as in their architectural types. 

The Erech- 
theum, as has 
already been 
said, may be 
taken as a rep- 
resentative of 
the most re- 
fined form of 
Ionic architec- 
ture. The order 
differs in several 
respects both from the pure Ionic form, as we see it in 
Asia Minor, and from the later conventional Ionic. 

It is also dif- 
ferent from the 
simpler kind 
of Ionic which 
we see in the 
Propylaea and 
in the temple 
of Nike. The 
entablature 
consists of an 
architrave sur- 
mounted by a 
richly decorated moulding, and divided into three bands, 
each slightly projecting beyond the other; a frieze of 




Base of Column, North Portico of Erechtheum. 
Behind it, wall showing base moulding. 



3 68 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



black Eleusinian stone, which served as the background 
to a set of white marble figures in relief, to which we must 
later recur ; and an ornamental cornice : but the dentils, 
which are often considered as characteristic of the Ionic 
entablature, are here entirely absent. The capital has a 
deep and delicately profiled groove, subdividing the broad 
channel between the volutes into two approximately 
equal portions ; this groove, which has a curve intermedi- 
ate between the flattened top of the channel and the deep 
bend of its lower boundary, runs round the two volutes 

also ; and, as 



the space be- 
low the curved 
boundary of 
the channel is 
also continued 
into the vo- 
lutes, these 
really consist 
of three spi- 

Band of Carving, from Top of Wall of Erechtheum. ra j s WO und to- 
gether. Into the innermost of the three was fixed a 
bronze spiral, which terminated in the angle between 
channel and volute, on each side of the capital, in a 
bronze palmette; a painted or carved palmette often 
appears in this position on less ornate capitals. The 
centres of the volutes also had metal ornaments, prob- 
ably of bronze gilt. Above the egg and dart moulding 
which usually crowns the shaft of an Ionic column 




THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 369 

between the volutes, the Erechtheum columns have 
also a round torus ornamented with a rich plait ; in 
the north portico, which is the most ornate part of the 
building, this plait is pierced in its interstices with holes 
for the insertion of a bright enamel. Beneath the capital 
the Ionic flutings, with the flat fillets between them, do 
not begin immediately; 
but above them is a 
band of flat relief, with 
one of those beautiful 
palmette and flower 
patterns that occur on 
various parts of the 
temple. The base con- 
sists only of an upper 
and lower torus sepa- 
rated by a deeply 
curved groove ; there is 
no square plinth below 

it. In the Columns of "Caryatids" of Erechtheum. 

the eastern front the upper torus is simply reeded ; but 
in the north portico it has a rich plait pattern like that 
round the head of the shaft, also diversified, in some 
cases, by holes for the insertion of enamel. The 
walls were treated externally in much the same man- 
ner as the columns and antae ; above the highest of 
the three steps, all around the building, is a base mould- 
ing similar to the bases of the columns ; and the wall 
is crowned by a band of palmettes and flowers like 




2 B 



37 o ANCIENT ATHENS 

those round the necks of the columns, carved with a 
crispness and delicacy that have never been surpassed. 
The southern or " Caryatid " portico has an especial 
design suited to the nature of its supports. The entab- 
lature carried by the maidens is lightened by the omission 
of the frieze, though, as some compensation, the upper- 
most of its three bands is decorated with a row of discs. 
The six figures stand, four in front and one behind at each 
side, upon a low marble wall, not broken by a door (the 
entrance is concealed at the side) ; and they are so disposed 
as to give the utmost appearance of rest and stability ; each 
rests her weight on the outer leg; and thus, together 
with an appearance of ease and absence of strain, there 
is, so to speak, a centripetal effect similar to that gained 
by the slight inward inclination of the outer columns 
of a Doric temple ; one has only to imagine the position 
of the figures on either side of the centre interchanged, 
to realise how disquieting to the eye any other arrange- 
ment would be. The maidens are clothed in full and 
rich drapery, like that of the Athenian maidens on the 
Panathenaic frieze, with cloaks hanging from their shoul- 
ders, and their hair is arranged in solid plaits beside their 
necks, so as to increase their apparent strength as 
architectural supports. 

The Erechtheum had, as we have seen, several doors ; 1 

1 Fragments of the ornamental moulding of another door, similar in character to 
the great one, are preserved ; these have usually been attributed to the east door. 
Dr. Middleton restores them as belonging to the small west door into the Pandroseum. 
See Schultz, J.H.S. XII. I. Even if we reject Mr. Schultz's theory as to the jambs, 
the evidence he points out of the lintel and cornice being replaced is indisputable. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 371 

the one which was distinguished by the especial name of 
to dvpoi^a was the door in the north portico, which is 
happily still standing, though in a much damaged condi- 
tion. Its great lintel is broken, and supported by an 
interior lintel and jambs of Christian date ; and even this 
great lintel and the cornice above it, though of Greek 
workmanship, have a carved ornament different in style 
from that on the original jambs and on the walls, and 
are evidently due to a repair, possibly necessitated by the 
fire of 406 B.C. ; the original lintel, of which the ends still 
remain, was of the height of two ordinary courses, and 
rested on the wall on either side. Yet, allowing for these 
repairs, the doorway remains, as an architectural model, 
the most perfect that is known to us from classical times, 
as well as the earliest elaborate marble doorway that we 
possess — for it will be remembered that the Parthenon 
and the Propylaea had their great doors bordered with 
wooden jambs. The wonderfully delicate row of carving 
that surrounds the door, the rosettes on the outer band, 
their centres filled with gilt bronze knobs, the console 
(one only is left), and the cornice even in its present 
state, combine to give a harmony and richness of effect 
that may be all the better appreciated for a comparison 
of the original with the countless imitations of it that 
may be seen in classical and modern work. On every 
part of this exquisite little temple there has been 
lavished a profusion of ornament, a richness of carving 
and inlaying, that, in any other time or place, might 
well have been bewildering or even surfeiting to the 



372 ANCIENT ATHENS 

eye. It is the peculiar excellence of the Attic artists 
of the fifth century that they could not only produce the 
simple and severe perfection of the Parthenon, but also 
combine the rich ornamentation of the Erechtheum with 
so great a purity and distinction of workmanship. 

The frieze of the Erechtheum calls for more detailed 
attention because of its peculiar technique. Earlier 
friezes — including that of the Parthenon — had had 
their backgrounds painted^ with a dark colour, usually 
blue, against which the figures stood out distinctly. 
A different technique was suggested by the basis 
of the statue of the Olympian Zeus, on which the 
figures of gold and ivory were attached to a back- 
ground of black Eleusinian stone. In the Erechtheum 
the frieze was made of this same black stone, and on 
its slabs may still be seen the clamps and clamp-holes 
by which the figures, in this case of white Pentelic 
marble, were attached to the background. Some of 
the figures themselves are preserved ; they are in mod- 
erately high relief. The extant figures, and the indica- 
tions of their position on the ground of the frieze, have 
not, however, sufficed to indicate either the subject 
represented or the nature of the composition. This 
frieze has an additional interest from the fact that 
we still possess, on one of the inscriptions relating to 
the building of the temple, a record of the various 
sums paid to workmen for carving the various figures 
of which it was composed. 1 

1 See p. 341. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 373 

The little temple of Victory, or rather of Athena Nike, 
has undergone vicissitudes even stranger than the larger 
buildings on the Acropolis. We have already noticed 
that the decree which ordered it to be built was one 
of the earliest measures passed during the predominance 
of Pericles, but that its completion was delayed, for 
some reason which is not recorded, until a later date — 




Temple of Athena Nike from the North-east. 

how much later, we can only judge from the style of 
the sculpture that decorated it. Once completed, it 
appears to have stood intact until comparatively modern 
times, and it was seen and admired by early travellers, 
such as Wheler. So it remained until 1687, when 
Athens was threatened by Morosini's attack, which 
ended so disastrously for the Parthenon ; and the Turks, 
in order to strengthen the defences of the Acropolis, 



374 ANCIENT ATHENS 

erected a new bastion, which they constructed in part 
out of the material of the temple of Nike, which they 
pulled down for the purpose. The appearance of the 
west front of the Propylaea, with a vacant space where 
the temple stood, is shown in Stuart's drawing. 1 Lord 
Elgin found some slabs of the frieze built into late 
walls, and carried them to England, where they may 
now be seen in the British Museum ; but the whole of 
the temple was not recovered until the bastion erected 
in 1687 was pulled down in 1835-36. The temple 
was found to be practically complete; and Ross, who 
was then Director of Antiquities in Greece, decided 
to rebuild it upon its original foundations ; this he did, 
and the temple, as restored, has again become a familiar 
feature in the view of the Acropolis. From a distance 
its effect is much what it always was; but it was of. 
course impossible to put together the old stones of the 
temple with the precision that distinguishes fifth-century 
architecture, and consequently, on a near view, the im- 
pression produced is rather irregular and unsatisfactory. 
The pieces of the frieze taken to London have been 
replaced by terra-cotta casts, as in the case of the 
Erechtheum. 

The temple is of very simple plan, consisting merely 
of a small oblong cella, facing east, with a portico of 
four Ionic columns at its front and back. It is raised 
on two steps, of which the lower one, at the west end, 
is aligned with the west wall of the bastion on which 

1 See p. 219. 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 375 

the temple is placed ; it is set in the north-west corner 
of this bastion, so as to leave a triangular space between 
the temple and the north edge of the bastion, and a 
rectangular space on the south. 

The Ionic order, as seen in this temple, is practically 
identical with that of the Propylaea; it has the simple 
form of capital, with a plain channel and single spiral in 
the volute, and with the fluting of the columns continu- 
ing right up to the capital. The sculptured frieze of the 
order has, for the most part, been preserved. On the 




Slab of South Frieze of Temple of Nike. 
Greeks and Persians. 

east front is an assembly of the gods, some seated, some 
standing. Athena, and probably Zeus, are recognisable, 
but the figures are so much defaced that it is impossible 
to identify many of the others. On the north and south 
sides were represented combats between Greeks and 
Persians, easily distinguishable by their muffled heads 
and the drapery swathed round their limbs ; on the west 
end was a combat between Greeks and Greeks. It has 
been suggested with much probability that these three 
scenes are to be taken as typical and commemorative of 
the three great battles of the Persian Wars, Marathon 
and Salamis, in which the Athenians overcame the 



376 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Persians, and Plataea, where it fell to the lot of the 
Athenians to meet the Thebans, then fighting on 
the Persian side. In the earlier days of the Peloponnesian 
War the Athenians would probably have been glad of 
this opportunity to record the national apostasy and 
disgrace of their Theban enemies. If this explanation 
is right, each side of the temple appropriately faces the 
direction of the field where the battle it records was 
fought. To the south, from the Nike bastion, one 
looks over the sea and Salamis ; to the west a con- 
spicuous object is Cithaeron, just behind which lies 
Plataea; and to the north is the pass between Pente- 
licus and Parnes, by which the Athenians returned 
from Marathon. Thus the visible objects in the land- 
scape on each side suggested the required associations. 
The style of the sculpture is, as has been said, the 
chief evidence for the date of the temple. It cannot 
possibly be so early as 450 B.C., the latest date to which 
the inscription can be assigned ; indeed, it is evidently 
later than the sculptures of the Parthenon or of the 
Theseum. There is a freedom and ease, both in the 
composition of the groups and the pose of the indi- 
vidual figures, which can belong only to a post-Phidian 
epoch ; but at the same time there is a certain restraint 
and moderation in the use of this freedom, which forbids 
us to assign the work to a much later date. Certain 
characteristics, such as the picturesqueness of effect and 
the flowing sweep of line in some of the groups, suggest 
the influence of painting, such as might well be attrib- 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 377 

uted to Polygnotus and his scholars, at this time work- 
ing in Athens; but it is not likely that we should find 
this influence in a work of sculpture earlier than the 
Parthenon : had sculptors of such skill as is shown in 
this frieze already existed in Athens, it is hardly con- 
ceivable that such men as made the metopes, for ex- 
ample, of the Parthenon and the Theseum should still 
have been employed on the chief buildings. Though their 
originality and vigour are, perhaps, greater than we find 
in the sculptors of the Nike frieze, their employment 
instead of those sculptors would have been an archaistic 
anachronism such as the Athenians of Pericles' time 
would not have tolerated. 

Another well-known series of sculptures that is asso- 
ciated with the temple of Athena Nike is the frieze 
ornamenting the balustrade or parapet that was placed 
around the bastion or precinct on which the temple 
stood. This precinct was of an irregular shape ; the 
balustrade began beside the little staircase leading up 
from the space before the Propylaea, and extended along 
the north, west, and south sides of the bastion, where 
traces of its fixing can still be seen ; its slabs have been 
removed to the Acropolis Museum. The reliefs which 
decorated it were placed upon the outside, so that some 
of them were only visible at some considerable distance 
from below. The slabs of relief are about one metre 
in height ; they were surmounted by a bronze railing of 
which the traces are still visible on the slabs. The subject 
of the frieze is a series of acts of worship performed in 



37 8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

honour of Athena — who is present on each side — by a 
number of winged Victories ; some lead a cow to sacrifice, 
others deck trophies or bring the spoils of the vanquished. 
But the theme is used by the sculptor as an opportunity 
for the display of a number of beautiful female figures, 




By permission of Messrs A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Slab fkom Balustrade of Temple of Nike. 
Two Victories and a cow. 

in varied and graceful action, their forms set off by 
drapery that clings, as if wet and transparent, to their 
body and limbs, or is swept by their motion into richly 
curving folds. It is impossible not to admire the skill 
of the artist and the beauty of the effect which he has 
attained ; but the mere fact that he has aimed at such 



THE ERECHTHEUM AND TEMPLE OF VICTORY 379 

an effect contrasts with the directness and simplicity of 

work that mark the sculptures of the Phidian age. It 

seems as if the Attic sculptors, left to their own devices, 

were again affect- 
ing a delicate treat- 

ment of drapery 

analogous to the 

mannerism that we 

noticed in their 

work before the ro- 

buster influences 

that came in with 

the Persian Wars. 

We have only to 
compare the two 

Victories leading a 

cow to sacrifice 
with the slab in the 

Parthenon frieze 
representing an al- 
most identical sub- 
ject, to feel what a 
great gulf is fixed 
between the two. 
Yet the sculpture of the balustrade is admirable in 
its kind, and it would be unfair to attribute to it the 
rather frigid mannerisms that mar the delicacy and 
prettiness of the sculptures of the Nereid Monument 
at Epidaurus, of the Neo-Atric Reliefs, and of count- 




Slab from Balustrade of Temple of Nike. 
Victory binding her sandal. 



3 8o ANCIENT ATHENS 

less other imitations, ancient and modern, that are 
ultimately derived from this same frieze of winged 
Victories. As a work of decorative relief, rich in flow- 
ing line and varied waves of drapery and beauty of 
body and limb that glow " through the veil that seems 
to hide them," the Nike balustrade holds an unrivalled 
place ; and if, on the one hand, it stands at the head 
of a series of imitations that are already on the way 
to decadence, yet, in the purity and dignity of its types, 
and the absence of confusion or over-elaboration in 
its detail, it preserves the high traditions of the fifth 
century. 









CHAPTER IX 



THE CITY IN THE FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 

In comparison with the fairly complete notion which 
we can obtain of the appearance of the Acropolis in 
the fifth and fourth centuries, our knowledge of the 
lower city is very meagre. This is partly, no doubt, 
because the architectural activity that distinguished the 
time of Cimon and Pericles was mainly concentrated on 
the adornment of the sacred citadel ; but it is partly also 
due to the fact that, while the Acropolis has been com- 
pletely excavated and now stands clear of all later struc- 
tures, the site of the Agora and many of the more 
important buildings below lies in the region that has 
always been occupied; it is indeed still covered by the 
small houses and streets that survive, even in modern 
Athens, as a heritage of Turkish times. It is greatly 
to be regretted, from the archaeological point of view, 
that Ross's bold and far-seeing plan to clear away all 
these small streets and houses, and to build the new city 
entirely in the district now occupied by the broad streets 
of the modern quarters, was never carried out. There 
would indeed have been some loss of the picturesque 
effect ; but the bazaars and other characteristic features 




.*;•/: 



O 2_ Q O ^ 

* 2 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

of Turkish Athens seem in any case doomed to disap- 
pearance ; and in their place we might have had the 
excavated area of the most central districts of the ancient 
city. It must be admitted that, wherever excavation 
in this region has been possible, it has not led to any 
very satisfactory results ; the continued occupation seems 
here, as is often the case, to have led to the almost com- 
plete obliteration of ancient monuments ; but such par- 
tial excavations are always a lottery, and indications of 
great topographical importance may well lie hidden 
within a few feet of an unsuccessful trial-pit. The 
Theseum, the Theatre, and the Choragic Monument of 
Lysicrates are practically the only monuments of the 
fifth or fourth century that still remain visible above 

ground. 

When the Athenians returned to their city after it 
had been sacked by the Persians, they found, as Thu- 
cydides tells us, only some parts of the wall left and 
most of the houses fallen ; only a few survived, in which 
the Persian leaders had taken up their quarters. The 
first care of the Athenians on returning was to rebuild 
their walls; and when even this essential matter was 
carried out in a rough-and-ready way, by making use 
of any available material, it is not likely that much 
trouble was bestowed either on private houses or public 
buildings; the Athenians probably contented themselves 
with provisional restorations to meet their practical 
needs. As soon as they had leisure to restore or replace 
in a permanent form what the Persians had destroyed, 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 383 

they turned, as we have seen, to the building of the new 
temple of Athena on the Acropolis ; but, so long at 
least as the influence of Themistocles was predominant, 
it was unlikely that the public buildings in the lower 
town would be sumptuously rebuilt. Such a measure 
would have been inconsistent with his project of remov- 
ing the town bodily to the Piraeus ; if this project had 
been carried out, the Acropolis would have remained 
as the old sacred precinct, like the Heraeum of Argos, 
some distance away from the inhabited city. Many 
porticoes, temples, and other buildings, some of them 
with paintings referring to the Persian Wars, were built 
around the Agora or elsewhere about this time ; but 
they must in all probability be referred to the adminis- 
tration of Cimon, after the projects of Themistocles had 
been discredited with his disgrace and exile in 472 B.C. 
We have already noticed the works undertaken by 
Cimon on the Acropolis between his crowning victory 
over the Persians at the Eurymedon in 468 B.C. and his 
ostracism in 461 B.C., and also his design and partial 
completion of the Long Walls between Athens and the 
Piraeus. The chief buildings of the lower town must 
probably be assigned to this same period. It has been 
conjectured with great probability that during his cam- 
paigns on the coast of Asia Minor he had fallen under 
the influence of the Ionian culture and artistic ten- 
dencies ; and that when he had an opportunity for beau- 
tifying Athens with new buildings, he summoned artists 
from Ionia to his assistance — chief among them the 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

■ 
painter Polygnotus, whose work, or that of his assistants 
and pupils, was to be seen in many of the buildings 
that may be attributed to Cimon, and whose influence on 
the art of Greece in the period succeeding the Persian 
Wars it would not be easy to overrate. In sending for 
• Ionian artists, Cimon was in some respects merely fot 
lowing the example of Themistocles, who had employed 
the Milesian architect Hippodamus to lay out the new- 
plan of the Piraeus, after the sumptuous and regular style 
customary in the great Ionian cities. But in Athens 
itself there was probably no scope for so complete an 
innovation ; the older buildings around the Agora were 
. already associated with their sites by a long tradition, 
and the new porticoes and temples that were built by 
Cimon consequently had to be adapted in plan and 
position to conditions already pretty rigidly prescribed. 
The only region where much freedom was possible was 
in the approach leading to the Agora from the Dipylon 
Gate ; and here the broad and gently sloping Dromos, 
bordered on either hand by the Long Porticoes, may 
probably be ascribed to Cimon's design. We possess, 
unfortunately, no certain remains or record of any of the 

I buildings erected by Cimon in the lower city, unless 
the beautiful little Ionic temple near the Ilissus, drawn 
by Stuart, but now entirely destroyed, be attributed to 
his time. Stuart gives both a picturesque view of this 
temple as he saw it, and also an architectural restoration 
and drawings of its details. Its chief peculiarity lies in 
the fact that, while otherwise resembling the temple of 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 385 

Nike, it has a plain architrave in place of the triple one 
usually belonging to the Ionic order, — perhaps an Attic 
experiment that was not repeated. The temple, which 
stood on a site between the Stadium and Callirrhoe, 
close to the Ilissus, has been variously identified as the 
temple of Demeter or of Triptolemus in Agrae, or as the 
temple of Artemis Agrotera. The latter identification fits 
the period, since this goddess was associated with the 
victory of Marathon, and received an annual sacrifice 
of five hundred goats in commemoration of it ; but it is 
probable enough that a small temple such as this may 
not be among those recorded by ancient writers. Another 
temple, said to have been dedicated from the spoils of 
the Persians at Marathon, was that of Eucleia, probably 
an epithet of Artemis ; but whether this is to be looked 
for by the Ilissus or not depends on the interpretation of 
Pausanias, since it is mentioned as near Enneacrunus. 
The name Eucleia, in itself, is more suitable to a temple 
near the Agora, as is shown by the analogy of similar 
dedications in Boeotia. If we could be certain of the 
identification and the date of this Ionic temple by the 
Ilissus, it might be valuable as the earliest temple of 
the Ionic order known to us in Athens. 1 Apart from it, 
the earliest of which we know the erection to have been 
ordered is the temple of Nike, designed by Callicrates, 
who served as city architect under Cimon and built the 
Long Walls. It is probable that the same Ionic order 



1 Unless we accept Mr. Penrose's restoration of the early temple of Athena. 
See pp. 1 1 7-1 18. 



86 ANCIENT ATHENS 

may have been used in some of Cimon's porticoes, at . 
least, as in the Propylaea, for the internal columns. Ex- 
cept in the case of these porticoes or other buildings 
which can be dated by the paintings with which they were 
decorated, we have no certain criteria to prove which of 
them were built by Cimon. All we can assert is that it 
seems improbable that they were erected before his time, 
and that they are often referred to as already existing, in 
some cases as places of traditional respect, in the latter 
part of the fifth or in the fourth century B.C. ff it is 
convenient to group them all together here, it must be 
understood that there is no clear evidence that they are 
all contemporary. All that is certain is that they existed, 
as described here, at least during the later part of the 
period with which we are concerned in the present 

chapter. 

Perhaps there is no building of equal historical and 
artistic importance of which so little is known as the 
Stoa Basileios or King's Portico. It was the office of 
the magistrate called the king, and therefore the scene of 
Plato's Euthyphro, the first act of the drama of the Trial 
and Death of Socrates. In later times it was the place 
where the Court of Areopagus sat; in it or before it 
were set up the tablets of the laws, and here, too, was the 
stone of sacrifice on which the archons took their oath. 
The Stoa Basileios is also conjectured, by some authori- 
ties, to have given its form as well as its name to the 
Basilica, and so to the Christian church. It was the first 
building on the western side of the Agora, seen by one 






THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 387 

approaching from the Dipylon Gate, and therefore it must 
have stood just at the foot of the little mound on which 
the Theseum is situated. Some early foundations found 
beneath modern houses at this point were identified, 
when they were first discovered, as probably forming part 
of the Stoa Basileios ; but on being more completely 
cleared, they proved to belong to a plan resembling 
that of a temple ; and so the identification cannot be 
considered probable. 1 Presumably the Stoa Basileios, 
like most other porticoes, consisted of a wall at the back 
and a colonnade facing the Agora, with one or more 
internal rows of columns between : but it must also have 
had some other arrangements to provide the accommo- 
dation necessary to its various uses. In the case of the 
Court of Areopagus at least, these were supplemented by 
an enclosure temporarily roped off to secure the required 
seclusioiio 2 The only recorded fact about its decoration 
is that it had above its roof groups of terra-cotta, repre- 
senting Theseus hurling Sciron into the sea and Eos 
carrying off Cephalus, — both of them familiar subjects 
in Attic art. 

Beside or behind the Stoa Basileios was another por- 
tico, called the Stoa Eleutherios, apparently from its 
association with the statue of Zeus Soter or Eleutherios, 
that stood near it. These epithets of the god, according 
to the most probable explanation, are to be connected, 



1 See Dorpfeld, Ath. Mittk. XXI. 108, XXII. 225. 

2 Dem. in Aristogit. I. 23: rb 7-771/ H ' Apeiov irdyov f3ov\rji>, orav iv rrj paaiXdy 
GToq. Kade^o/Jiivrj irepi.ax oiv ^ ar l Tai i Kara iroWrjv ■qavxia-v £<f> eavrrjs elvai. 



388 ANCIENT ATHENS 

at Athens as at Platea, with the Persian Wars and the 
great deliverance of the Greeks from the danger of a 
foreign yoke. This portico was a favourite place of 
resort for those idling in the market-place, and was, 
for that reason, frequented by philosophers —for instance, 
Diogenes the cynic. Its position in this region is con- 
firmed by the discovery, in the railway cutting, between 
the Theseum and the Hermes Street, of an inscription, 
ordered to be set up beside Zeus Soter. The paintings in 
the Stoa were by Euphranor, and so cannot have been 
executed until the fourth century. The third and most 
famous of these great porticoes in the Agora of the 
fifth and fourth centuries was probably on its eastern 
side ; this was built by Pisianax, probably a relative of 
Cimon and uncle of Alcibiades, and was sometimes called 
by his name; but it is better known as the Sroa ITcH/aXr?, 
the Painted Colonnade, because of the fresco-paintings 
that decorated it, and that were, perhaps, second only to 
those of the Lesche at Delphi in fame throughout the 
ancient world. It is said that Polygnotus painted his 
share of this portico without any payment; the other 
scenes were painted by Micon and by Panaenus, the 
brother of Phidias. The subjects were the battle between 
the Athenians and Spartans at the Argive CEnoe, prob- 
ably about 460 B.C.; the battle of the Athenians under 
Theseus against the Amazons, painted by Micon ; the 
Greeks after the capture of Troy, a subject similar to 
that in the Lesche at Delphi, and painted by Polygnotus 
himself (in it Ajax and Cassandra were conspicuous); 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 389 

and the victory of the Athenians and Plataeans i over the 
Persians at Marathon^ attributed variously to each of the 
three artists already mentioned, — a fact which suffices to 
show that Micon and Panaenus imitated Polygnotus in 
their style. The battle seems to have been divided into 
three scenes, — the two enemies approaching one another, 
the flight of the Persians to the marsh, and their slaughter 
as they regained their ships. Various gods and heroes 
were represented as present, Athena and Heracles and 
Theseus, and the hero named Echetlos, who was 
represented as slaying the Persians with a ploughshare. 
Among the generals the figures of Miltiades, who 
stood forth conspicuous, and of Callimachus on the Greek 
side, and of Datis and Artaphernes on the Persian side, 
were portraits ; the poet /Eschylus also could be recog- 
nised among the combatants, and his brother, Cynae- 
geirus, who lost his hand when seizing a Persian ship. 
Even a dog which accompanied his master into battle 
was included in the picture. This representation of the 
battle of Marathon was one of the most famous among 
the historical pictures, and it was constantly before the 
eyes and the minds of the Athenians as a memorial of 
their proudest exploit. It is interesting to notice that 
they did not shrink from representing, in painting, inci- 
dents and accessories derived from the actual facts of the 
battle, though also dignified by the assistance of gods 
and heroes ; in contemporary sculpture, as we have seen, 
references to the victory over the Persians are usually 

1 See P'ra/.er, Pans, note ad loc. 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

expressed only in a symbolical or typical manner, by 
representations such as the combat of the Greeks and 

Centaurs. 

The Painted Stoa, like the other two, was in the most 
frequented portion of the Agora; sometimes it served for 
the meetings of a court, always for a public resort and 
the disputation of the philosophers. Owing to this last 
use it has given its name to the Stoics, who were so 
called because their master Zeno taught mainly in this 

■ 
place. 

Other buildings which were indispensable for public 
business or ritual, and which, therefore, could not have 
been allowed to remain long in ruins, were the Buleu- 
terium or Senate House, the Tholus, and the Prytaneum. 
The position of these has already been considered in 
Chapter III. There is no reason to suppose that they 
were spared by the Persians, and their rebuilding may 
be attributed with probability to the time of Cimon. 
Of the form of the Prytaneum we know nothing; 
it must have had accommodation for the service of 
the common table kept up for Athenians of distinc- 
tion and for foreign ambassadors; this, however, had 
nothino- of the luxury we usually associate with a civic 
banquet. It also held the sacred hearth of the state, 
and the statue of the goddess Hestia. Some of the 
functions which we might have expected to belong to 
the Prytaneum were assigned to the Tholus, which 
was situated close to the Senate House at the upper 
end of the Agora. The Tholus served as the official 







THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 391 

residence of the chairman of the fifty Prytanes, during 
his twenty-four hours of office, and he and his col- 
leagues, together with certain other officials, dined there 
at the public expense; one-third of the number, as well 
as the chairman, had to stay there all the time. The 
name implies that it was a circular building; its roof 
is said to have been of stone, not of wood ; and it was 
also called, probably from the appearance of this roof, 
the %klols or parasol. It seems hardly probable that a 
building of this nature should have had sufficient ac- 
commodation for the purposes mentioned ; we have no 
reason to suppose that the Greeks of the fifth century 
would or could have constructed a dome of any con- 
siderable size. Perhaps there were other chambers for 
living and sleeping attached to the circular structure 
which was the most essential part of the building and 
gave it its name. Certain rites, especially of libation 
and sacrifice, were connected with the Tholus ; and in 
many Greek cities, as at Rome, we find such circular 
structures connected with a sacred hearth, usually the 
hearth of the state, and the deities that preside over 
it, Hestia or Vesta. We have seen that in Athens this 
hearth was in the Prytaneum. The duplication is not 
easy to explain ; perhaps when the common Prytaneum 
and common Senate House for all Attica were estab- 
lished, the old hearth of the town of Athens alone was 
retained in the Tholus. The Senate House, or Buleu- 
terium, was close to the Tholus. It may probably have 
had the shape of a small theatre ; it was provided with 



dH 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

benches for the Prytanes or presidents, a platform for 
the speakers, and a railing to separate the part open 
to the public. In the same region were the statues of 
the Eponymous Heroes of the ten tribes ; they must 
have been set up soon after the Persian War, for they 
are constantly referred to. It was the custom to affix 
various announcements, made according to tribes, to 
their pedestals — especially the lists of the names 
drawn for military service. We do not know by whom 
the statues were made, unless, as is possible, we are to 
recognise Myron's Erechtheus among them. 

A shrine that we know to 'have been erected by 
Cimon is the Theseum ; he brought the bones of the 
hero from Scyros, and prepared for them a temple 
which was decorated with paintings of which Pausanias 
gives us a description; these were by Micon, or, ac- 
cording to some authorities, by Polygnotus— a con- 
fusion we have already noticed in the case of the 
paintings in the Painted Portico. The paintings were 
probably frescoes which covered the three walls of the 
shrine, the fourth being occupied by the door of en- 
trance; two of them represented the battles of the 
Athenians under Theseus against the Amazons, and 
of the Lapiths against the Centaurs; the subject of 
the third was an episode which is often represented 
by vase painters, among them Euphronios on a 
beautiful vase, and which is related in one of the 
recently found poems of Bacchylides. This was the 
visit of Theseus to Amphitrite below the sea, when he 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES yj^ 

accepted the challenge of Minos to prove his divine 
origin by undertaking to recover a ring thrown into 
the sea, and when Amphitrite gave him also the crown 
which he afterwards presented to Ariadne. 1 The The- 
seum, as we learn from Pausanias and from other in- 
dications, was somewhere to the east of the Agora ; it 
cannot, therefore, be identified with the temple still 
extant, which is commonly known as the Theseum, 
rather because archaeologists cannot agree on any other 
name for it than because any one now accepts this 
identification. 2 The 'AvaKeLov, or temple of the Dio- 
scuri, of which we have already noticed the position 
near the precinct of Aglauros on the north slope of 
the Acropolis, was also decorated with paintings by 
Polygnotus and Micon, and so may be classed with 
the temples restored by Cimon. The paintings both 
represented exploits of the Dioscuri or events in which 
they were concerned. The subject of that by Poly- 
gnotus was " the marriage of the daughters of Leucip- 
pus " ; that is to say, most probably, the scene in which 
they were carried off by Castor and Pollux in their 
chariots, as we often see them on vases and reliefs. 
The painting by Micon referred to the expedition of 
the Argonauts, and in it Acastus and his horses were 



1 Some writers suppose, because Pausanias goes on to speak of the end of The- 
seus, that this also was represented. This is most unlikely, especially as it is part 
of a story not very creditable to the hero. Pausanias' reason for mentioning it is 
evidently to explain how Theseus' bones came to be in Scyros, and has nothing to 
do with the paintings. 

2 See Chapter X., below. 



ANCIENT ATHENS 
394 

the most prominent objects ; it is, therefore, conjectured 
that the scene depicted must have been the funeral 
games he celebrated in honour of his father Pelias. 
° It would be possible to extend to a considerable length 
the catalogue of the buildings that were probably erected 
before the ostracism of Cimon, because, being indispen- 
sable to the civic life or the religious rites of the state, 
they must have been restored soon after their destruc- 
tion by the Persians. But the few that have been 
mentioned are selected either because of their frequent 
mention by classical writers, or because of the artists 
who were employed in their decoration. For the dating 
of other buildings of the fifth and fourth centuries we 
are dependent to a great extent on the record of the 
artists whose works they contained. Inferences from 
this record are evidently liable to error; although a 
statue cannot well have been placed in a temple 
before the building was completed, it may have 
existed before, and have been transferred from else- 
where; and it may not have been placed in the temple 
until some time after its completion. Still, there is 
no harm in using this evidence as giving a probable 
indication, though not one that can be insisted on 
against other evidence or probability. There is only 
one building in the lower town of which the erection is 
attributed by direct evidence to the time of Pericles. 
This is the Odeum, which was said to have been built 
in imitation of the tent of Xerxes, and to have been 
constructed out of the masts and yards of captured 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 395 

ships. It was mainly of wood, and to this fact it owed 
its destruction, for it was burnt when Sulla besieged 
Athens, though it was afterwards rebuilt. 1 It had seats 
for a considerable number of people, and many columns. 
It was most probably in the form of a small theatre with 
a roof. Its chief use was for the musical contests at the 
Panathenaic festival ; but it was also used for the offi- 
cial rehearsal of plays to be performed at the Great 
Dionysia. The beauty of the building was noted; its 
external appearance may be to some extent inferred 
from the jest of Cratinus at " Pericles, the squill-headed 
Zeus, with the Odeum on his crown." Of course, one 
must not strain the interpretation of such a jest; but 
the comparison would have had no point at all unless 
the Odeum had a round or oval roof. The Odeum was 
situated close to the Theatre of Dionysus, just to the 
east of it. It was thus in a very convenient position, 
either for loungers or for assemblies, formal or informal. 
It was sometimes used for these purposes, and also for 
the storing and distribution of grain in times of scar- 
city. Unfortunately no traces of it can now be seen. 
Other buildings, or at least the statues they contained, 
must be assigned to the time of Pericles, and of Phidias 
as the general director of artistic activity. One of these 
was the temple of Aphrodite Urania; the cult of this 
goddess, who was recognised as identical with the ori- 
ental goddess of love and queen of heaven, was said to 
have been introduced by /Egeus ; in its original form 

1 See p. 491. 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

it was associated with licentious rites such as made 
Corinth a byword ; and it was contrasted with the more 
sober worship of Aphrodite Pandemos, the "great and 
holy " ' goddess of marriage, whose ritual formed a recog- 
nised part of the state religion. There is no doubt, 
however, that in ancient as well as in modern times 
the relation of the two cults was all but inverted. 
Spenser's Hyinn of Heavenly Love, as opposed to 
Earthly or Natural Love, simply follows the distinc- 
tion of Urania and Pandemos as interpreted by Plato. 2 
It is probable, when we consider the religious tenden- 
cies of Pericles and of Phidias, that the statue of Aphro- 
dite Urania was inspired by the same conception, and 
was intended to <nve a new and higher meaning to the 
worship of the goddess. We do not, unfortunately, 
possess any certain copy of the statue to confirm or 
refute this theory. 

Another statue attributed to Phidias, or by some to 
his favourite pupil Agoracritus, was that of the Mother 
of the Gods in the Metroum beside the Senate House. 
She was represented as seated, with a cymbal in her 
hand, and with lions seated beneath her throne, a type 
preserved on several reliefs. Here it would seem that 
the sculptor contented himself with reproducing the 
usual type of Rhea and the attributes of her cult. 
Another temple about contemporary with the Parthenon 
is that now generally called the Theseum ; as this is 

1 Me7d\77 <t€/ivt] Udv5r)iJL ' Xtppobirt). — Milchhofer, xi. Sy. 
- In the Phadrus, 






THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 397 



reserved for separate treatment, it is unnecessary here 
to discuss either its date or its identification. 

After the banishment or death of Phidias, his pre- 
dominant place among Attic artists seems to have been 
inherited by Alcamenes, to whom were entrusted the 
chief public commissions for sculpture down to the close 
of the fifth century. Some of the statues attributed to 
him may of course have been made before the beginning 
of the Peloponnesian War ; but the majority of them are 
probably to be assigned to the last quarter of the cen- 
tury. He supplied the statues for several of the best- 
known temples of Athens — the " Aphrodite in the 
Gardens," Ares in the temple near the Areopagus, 
Hecate on the tower ('ETUTrupyiSta) on the bastion of 
Athena Nike, Hera in a temple between Athens and 
Phalerum, the colossal gold and ivory Dionysus in the 
temple below the Theatre, and a Hephaestus, probably 
to be identified with the colossal bronze statue set up 
together with another statue of Athena, as stated in an 
inscription of about 416 b.c. 1 These statues were prob- 
ably those set up in the temple of Hephaestus, and the 
temple itself may be of the same date or a little earlier. 
The artistic types of all these statues have given rise to 
much conjecture and discussion, which cannot even be 
summarised here. It is probable enough that copies of 
some of them may be seen in statues of those various 
divinities that are still familiar to us. Their record 
suffices to show us that the Athenians found oppor- 

1 Reisch, Jahreskafte, I. p. 55, CIA. I. 318, 319. 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

tunity, during the intervals of the Peloponnesian War, 
not only to build the Erechtheum on the Acropolis, but 
also to add many new temples and statues to beautify 
the lower town. The disastrous conclusion of the war 
does not seem, so far as our information goes, to have 
left much mark on the buildings of the city; we have 
already noticed the destruction and rebuilding of the 
Long Walls. The last recorded work of Alcamenes 
was a group of Athena and Heracles, set up to com* 

imemorate the exploits of Thrasybulus and the freeing 
of the city from the Thirty Tyrants; it was however 
dedicated, not in Athens, but in Thebes, whence 
Thrasybulus had started to seize Phyle. 

The earlier part of the fourth century does not offer 
any records of great importance to the architectural his- 
tory of the city. Some improvements and alterations 
were made in the precinct south of the Acropolis, dedi- 
cated to Asclepius, whose worship had probably been 
introduced into Athens from Epidaurus during the 
Peloponnesian War to take the place of an earlier shrine 
of healing on the same spot. This, however, is more 
fully considered in the next chapter. Possibly many 
projects were begun, but none of them finished, until 
the able administration of Lycurgus, who managed the 
finances and other affairs in Athens from 338 to 326 B.C., 
brought more order into the department of public works. 
Foremost among these was the Theatre of Dionysus; 1 
he also finished the construction of the Stadium, which 

1 See Chapter IX. 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 399 

hitherto had probably been only roughly adapted to its 
purpose in a natural valley, and rebuilt the gymnasium 
of the Lyceum, the favourite resort of Aristotle and his 
pupils; and at the Piraeus the architect Philo erected 
under his administration a splendid arsenal for the gear of 
the Athenian ships, — a building for which we still pos- 
sess the specifications. None of these buildings, except 
the Theatre and the Stadium, has survived to our time; 
and the Stadium has been so much changed, first by the 
addition of marble seats by Herodes Atticus, and more 
recently by a modern restoration, that it is difficult to 
form any notion of it as it was in Lycurgus' time. But 
numerous inscriptions as well as literary records testify 
to the great services which he rendered to the state, not 
only in finance, but also in beautifying the city and com- 
pleting what others had begun, and from the age of 
Pericles to that of Hadrian there was probably no other 
man who left so lasting an impression upon Athenian 
architecture. 



If the public monuments of Athens are less conspicu- 
ous in the record of the fourth century than in that of the 
fifth, it is otherwise with private buildings and dedica- 
tions. A most interesting class is that which is concerned 
with victories in the choric dances held in honour of 
Dionysus. A tripod w T as the prize given to the victorious 
choragus; and this was usually dedicated to the god, 
sometimes on the top of a little temple or shrine con- 
structed for the purpose. A most beautiful example of 
these choragic monuments is the one dedicated by Lysi- 






ANCIENT ATHENS 



crates in 334 B.C. This is in the form of a small circular 
temple of the Corinthian order, of which it is one of the 
earliest and most beautiful examples. It is raised upon 
a high square basis, and the spaces between the columns 
are filled by carved marble panels, of which the upper 
part is decorated with tripods in relief. The whole build- 
ing is most delicately ornamented ; the roof, which is 
made of a single block of marble, is cut into a leaf pattern, 
and provided with supports, decorated with acanthus 
and volutes, to carry the legs and body of the tripod that 
surmounted the whole. The frieze, which is only about 
ten and a half inches high, has figures in relief, repre- 
senting the adventure of Dionysus with the Tyrrhe- 
nian pirates, as narrated in the Homeric hymn. The 
offenders who had attacked the god when in disguise, 
were represented as undergoing punishment at the hands 
of his attendant satyrs. Some are already changed or 
half changed into dolphins; others are being chastised 
by satyrs with the rods that they are breaking from 
trees for the purpose; in the midst the god himself is 
seated, caressing his panther, while on either side of him 
sits a satyr with a thyrsus, looking on at the scene; and 
beyond these are great wine-bowls, and satyrs around 
them who give orders to those who are more actively 
employed, so that the god himself is widely separated 
from the scene of turmoil. The various groups corre- 
spond almost exactly with one another all through the 
relief, though there is in each case a slight variety of 
action, so that we have here another remarkable example 





Choragic Monument of Lysicrates 



* 






Hi 






THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 403 



of the symmetry that usually belongs to Greek architec- 
tural sculpture. 1 The open spacing of the figures and 
groups is, as was to be expected, more like that of the 
Mausoleum frieze than the closer arrangement of the 
friezes of the fifth century in Athens, and the slimness 
of the proportions and a certain studied grace in the 
attitudes betrays the tendencies of the later Attic school. 

The monument of Lysicrates stood in the Street of 
the Tripods, which was named after the structures of a 
similar nature that were set up there ; one of them con- 
tained the famous satyr of Praxiteles, copies of which 
are probably to be recognised in extant statues. 2 The 
whole street was famous for the works of art which it 
contained, most of them, apparently, of the fourth cen- 
tury. There is some evidence that another similar build- 
ing existed close to the monument of Lysicrates until 
the seventeenth century, and that the two were known 
from their shape as the Lantern of Demosthenes and 
the Lantern of Diogenes. The monument of Lysi- 
crates was for a long time used as the library of a 
Capucin monastery; it was restored to its present con- 
dition by the French in 1845. 

The most conspicuous of all the choragic monuments 
was that set up by Thrasyllus in 320 B.C. in the cave 
above the great Theatre. He walled up the front of 
the cave with an ornamental architectural front, and 

1 This symmetry is slightly obscured by the inversion of the order of two of the 
groups on Stuart's drawing and subsequent reproductions, including the restoration 
of the monument itself. See De Cou, Am. Jour. Arch. VIII. p. 42. 

2 See my Handbook of Greek Sculpture, Fig. 85. 



4o 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

set up above it the statue of Dionysus which was 
brought to England by Lord Elgin and is now in the . 
British Museum; this, though a work of no special 
merit, is interesting as showing an attempt to revert 
to the monumental dignity of the sculpture of the Phid- 
ian aee. Stuart's view shows this monument as it 

was in his time. 

It has now been 
in great measure 
destroyed ; but an 
architrave with in- 
scription still re- 
mains, showing 
that the original 
monument of 
Thrasyllus was 
supplemented by 
other dedications, 
probably tripods, 

added by his son 
Cave above Theatre. 

Once faced with choragic monument of Thrasyllus. aDOUt Utty years 

Above it, columns to carry tripods. i . »-r»i 

later. 1 he cave 
now contains a little shrine dedicated to Ylavayia Xpvcro- 
(nTr)\aLa>Ti<T(ra, " Our Lady of the Golden Cave," and was 
in mediaeval times a spot of considerable sanctity; but 
its worship and title have now been transferred to a 
modern church in the lower town, and the only trace of 
it that is left is the lamp that still burns in the shrine, and 
that, from its position, is curiously conspicuous at night. 




Cave above Theatre. 

Once faced with choragic monument of Thrasyllus. 
Above it, columns to carry tripods. 






THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 405 

Set on the rock above the cave are two columns with 
triangular capitals which once carried votive tripods. 

Another choragic monument has had a curious fate ; 
it was originally set up by a certain Nicias to commemo- 
rate a choric victory of 320 b.c, the same year as that of 
Thrasyllus. It has been suggested by Professor Dorp- 





Chokagic Monument of Thrasyllus above Theatre in Turkish Times. 
feld that it stood on a foundation that was partially 
destroyed when the Odeum of Herodes Atticus was 
built. But the architectural front of the monument has 
been used to make an ornamental gateway between the 
two towers at the foot of the approach to the Acropolis ; 
and there it stands to the present day, with its inscrip- 
tion on its architrave. We have no certain evidence 
when it was placed in this position. If it was removed 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

when the Odeum was built, a natural inference is that 
it was then transferred to be the lower gate of the 
Acropolis ; but it makes so cramped and awkward an 
entrance that one finds difficulty in believing that it 
was put there in the time of Hadrian. It would rather 
seem to date from some later repair. This is the gate 
which was excavated by Beule, and which is often called, 
for that reason, the " Beule Gate." 

The contrast between the magnificence of the public 
buildings of Athens in the fifth century and the sim- 
plicity of private houses is pointed out by Demosthenes ; l 
and he uses this contrast to point a moral at the inverted 
relation of the two in his own day. " The public build- 
ings," says he, " they constructed for us, the number and 
the beauty of the temples, and of the offerings they con- 
tained, are such that their successors can never surpass 
them ; but in private life they practised so great modera- 
tion, such conformity to political traditions, that even if 
any of you knew which was. the house of Aristides or 
Miltiades or any of the famous men of old, you would 
find it no more pretentious than its neighbours. . . . 
And what can one point out nowadays ? The battle- 
ments we make a fuss about and the roads we repair 
and the fountains and such rubbish ? No ; look at our 
statesmen ; among whom those who were poor have 
become rich, and those who were unknown have come 
to honour, and some of them have built themselves pri- 
vate houses more pretentious than the public buildings." 

1 01. III. 25. 



THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 407 



This speech of Demosthenes was of course made before 
the administration of Lycurgus had removed the slur 
which he here casts upon the public undertakings of 
his time ; and we have already noticed the lack of pub- 
lic buildings that can be assigned to the earlier or mid- 
dle portions of the fourth century. We can trace the 
beginnings of a more sumptuous taste in domestic archi- 
tecture back to the fifth century. Alcibiades is said to 
have kidnapped the painter Agatharchus, threatening to 
retain him a prisoner in his house until he had finished 
adorning it with frescoes ; and it was three months 
before the unlucky painter made his escape, leaving his 
work still unfinished. Xenophon, 1 too, quotes Socrates 
as expressing his disapproval of this practice, and assert- 
ing that such decoration destroys more pleasure than it 
gives. And the house of Callias, as described in the 
beginning of Plato's Protagoras, must have been a con- 
spicuous building, since it contained a court with ex- 
tensive porticoes, in which various groups of talkers 
could walk or sit, and chambers for guests, and store- 
houses, in addition to the usual domestic accommoda- 
tions. But the limited extent of the city and the 
crowding of its population must always have made such 
extensive houses the exception rather than the rule, 
save in the case of the suburbs and gardens and country 
houses which the richer Athenians already possessed in 
the time of Pericles, and which he urged them to give 
up without repining when the Spartan invasion drove 

1 Mem. III. 8. 



ANCIENT ATHENS 

them all within the walls of the town. Doubtless after 
the stress of the war had passed, the middle as well as 
the upper classes of the Athenians returned *to their 
country houses with the same delight as is evinced by 
Trygaeus in Aristophanes' Peace. It is not to be 
imagined, however, that even in the fourth century the 
finer houses of a Greek city had an imposing appearance 
like a modern mansion; they usually showed blank walls 
to the street, or had mere slits for windows ; they were, 
as a rule, except their foundations, built only of sun-dried 
brick covered with stucco, such as offered insufficient 
defence against the rotx^p^X° ? ' '^ ie wall-digger or burg- 
lar of ancient times ; and they usually had no external 
architectural ornament beyond a simple porch, with 
small columns to support it, at the front door. The 
roof, too, was usually flat ; and though some of the 
houses in a town were two-storied, they probably had 
no very imposing proportions from without, however 
sumptuous were their arrangements and decoration 
within. We must therefore imagine the town of Athens, 
in the fourth no less than in the fifth century, as dis- 
tinguished only by its open spaces, religious or civil, 
Agora and precincts, public buildings, and temples of 
the gods. The streets mostly kept their old size and 
direction, and were, according to our notions, mean and 
narrow, and the private houses afford little variety of 
aspect. On the other hand, the public gardens and 
gymnasia, and other places of resort for leisurely con- 
versation or pleasant walks in the suburbs, had greatly 







THE CITY IN FIFTH AND FOURTH CENTURIES 409 

improved. The impression one gathers from the litera- 
ture of the time is not only of a city unrivalled for the 
monuments of its art, but of one pleasant to visit or to 
dwell in, surrounded by a country diversified with trick- 
ling streams and shady groves. And with them was 
associated what is now lost with them, the temperate 
climate celebrated by Attic writers. 






■ "... 









CHAPTER X 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, AND THE THEATRE 



The temple generally known as the Theseum x is in 
a better state of preservation than any other that has 
survived from Greek times ; and, moreover, it is one of 
the most conspicuous buildings in Athens outside the 
Acropolis. Yet its name and identification have been 
the subject of almost endless controversy, and the temple 
itself is for some reason disappointing in the impression 
it produces on the visitor to Athens. This impression, 
which is very widely felt, must have some reason. We 
should have expected the almost complete preservation 
of a temple, built in Athens and contemporary with the 
Parthenon, to have been an immense help to our imagi- 
nation in realising what Greek architecture was like in 
its best examples. That this is not the case, at least to 
as high a degree as might be expected, is not due 
entirely to the position of the Theseum. It is situated 
on a low hill, just clear of the modern town, while the 
whole space between it and the Acropolis is left open; 
and it is consequently possible to obtain a view of it 
from various positions, in which its effect is not marred 

1 The most recent and complete work on the Theseum is that of Professor Sauer. 
See also ISaumeister, art "Theseion." 



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THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 411 

by the vicinity of modern structures. The explanation 
must probably lie in the fact that the Theseum, though 
built in the best days of Attic architecture, was not 
designed by an architect like Ictinus or Mnesicles ; it 
has no simple and easily appreciable relation between its 
various proportions, such as in the Parthenon gives 
satisfaction to the eye ; and a Doric building depends 
almost entirely for its effect on these subtly harmonised 
proportions. 

The history of the Theseum is similar to that of other 
temples in Athens ; it owes its preservation to being 
transformed into a church, in this instance dedicated 
to St. George ; and it has escaped the disastrous acci- 
dents that ruined the Erechtheum and the Parthenon. 
Like the Parthenon, it had to be supplied with a new 
roof ; but this was done without so much damage to 
the structure. The question of the identification of the 
building is better deferred until we have before us the 
data supplied by its architectural forms and sculptural 
decoration. 

The Theseum is a temple of the Doric order, with six 
columns at front and back and thirteen at each side. It 
is raised upon three steps, of which the upper two only 
are of marble, the bottom one of Piraic limestone ; if 
this bottom step was visible, the result must have been 
unsatisfactory in appearance. The plan of the body of 
the temple is a common one for Greek temples ; it 
consists only of a cella, with a pronaos in front, and 
an opisthodomus at the back which is a mere recess; 



4I2 ANCIENT ATHENS 

there is no second chamber, as in the Parthenon. 
At front and back, within the colonnade, the temple 
ends in two columns between antae. The roof of the 
colonnade is to a great extent preserved, and consists of 
sets of panels or caskets carried by marble beams which 
run across from the entablature above the columns to 
the top of the cella wall. In this as in other respects 
the Theseum gives us a notion of the appearance of 
a Doric temple when complete. The slabs closing the 
caskets at the top are in many cases loose, and provided 
with letters to indicate their position. It has been 
suggested with probability by Mr. W. N. Bates that 
they could be removed and replaced at will, so as to 
admit into the cella the light reflected up from the 
pavement outside — an ingenious solution of the problem 
of lighting a Greek temple. 1 The forms of the echinus 
of the capitals and of other details resemble those of the 
Parthenon pretty closely, and it is impossible to draw 
any chronological distinction between the two buildings, 
or to suppose that they were separated from each other 
by any long interval of time. 

The Theseum has preserved to a remarkable degree 
the traces of the colours with which it was originally 
painted ; there is some conflict of evidence as to details, 
especially such as, if they once existed, have disappeared 
within the last half-century or so. It seems fairly clear, 
however, that, here as elsewhere, the broader masses such 
as columns and architraves were left plain, and that the 

1 Amer. Jour. Arch. 1901, p. 37. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 413 




The Theseum f,rom the West, showing Frieze in situ. 
Lapiths and Centaurs. Cseneus group in centre. 

colouring was confined either to the smaller mouldings 
or to such surfaces as were subdivided in detail. Thus 
the triglyphs were blue, and the mutules also, while the 
drops projecting from the latter were red, and red was 
also used for other small surfaces. The background of 
the metopes, too, was red, while that of the continuous 
frieze over the inner columns was blue. And in many 
cases where the colour is lost the various weatherings 
of the surface show the leaf pattern and other designs 
that once ornamented the mouldings. A much-disputed 
question is whether any such pattern ever existed on the 
echinus of the capital ; but the balance of evidence, as 
well as of probability, appears to favour the opinion that 
the echinus was left plain. 



4 i 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

The sculpture of the Theseum consisted of pedimental 
groups now entirely lost, metopes placed over the Doric 
colonnade on the outside, and also a continuous frieze 
set above the inner columns and antae within the colon- 
nade at each end, a position similar to that of the con- 
tinuous frieze of the Parthenon; but this frieze is not, in 
the Theseum, continued along the sides of the building 
as well. The metopes are, not all sculptured, but only 
those of the east front, ten in number, and the four on 
each side adjoining the east front. These metopes have 
all suffered greatly from the weather, and many of them 
are barely distinguishable at present ; they were a little 
better preserved in the time of Stuart, and, consequently, 
his drawings are of considerable value in any attempt at 
reconstruction. 1 The ten metopes of the east front rep- 
resent the labours of Heracles, and the other eight, on 
the sides, represent the exploits of Theseus. Although 
so little is left, the scenes and the actions correspond so 
closely with the treatment of the same subjects on Attic 
vases that it has been possible to recover almost com- 
pletely the original compositions; and this has been 
done with great ingenuity, and also with a high degree of 
certainty, by Professor Sauer in his monograph on the 
temple. This, however, is too much a question of Greek 
mythography to be included here ; it must suffice for us 
to note that nine of the usual labours are represented on 
the ten metopes, that of Geryon being divided between 

1 Antiquities of Athens, III. i. See also the drawings in Mon. Inst. X. 43-44, 
58, 59. Sauer, op. cit. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 415 

two. There is nothing incongruous in this, since Hera- 
cles is represented as an archer; but it is a clear 
survival of tradition, for on the Athenian treasury at 
Delphi the subject of Geryon and his cattle occupies 
no less than five 
metopes. The ex- 
ploits of Theseus 
are also a favourite 
subject upon Attic 
vases ; and here, too, 
the groups on the 
metopes correspond 
very closely with the 
representations on 
the vases. This close 
correspondence is 
the more remarkable 
since, in the case of the almost contemporary metopes of 
the Parthenon, it has not been found possible, to any great 
extent, to identify their subjects, or to restore them, by 
the help of vase-paintings ; one may fairly draw the infer- 
ence that the sculptors of the Parthenon metopes were 
either more independent of tradition altogether, or at 
least that they did not follow the tradition common to 
the sculptors of the Theseum metopes and the Attic 
vase painters. The Theseum metopes have, however, 
qualities of their own which go beyond this common 
tradition. The subjects and motives are selected with 
considerable skill to suit their architectural frame, the 




METorE of Theseum. 
Theseus and Cercyon. 



416 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



principle followed being almost always that of contrast 
The lithe and athletic bodies of the heroes and their 
vigorous action show out well against the rigid squares 
in which they are set. But, on the other hand, the 
action is often too momentary, the position too unstable, 
to be suited to sculpture. We noticed these char- 
acteristics in a certain class of the metopes of the Par- 
thenon, though hardly in so extreme a form as in the 
Theseum. So far as we can judge from the damaged 
surface of the sculpture, supplemented by the obser- 
vation of earlier 
travellers, the style 
of the modelling: 
would also appear 
to be of the same 
dry and sinewy kind 
that we noticed in 
the Parthenon me- 
topes. At the same 
time, the compo- 
sition and execu- 
tion show certain 
differences as well 
as this general resemblance; in particular, the sculp- 
tor, or sculptors, of this particular set of Parthenon 
metopes seems to be more original in his choice of 
motives, less content with the conventional repertoire. 
If we agree with the commonly accepted notion that 
the influence or school of Myron is to be recog- 




Metope of Theseum. 
Theseus and bull. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 417 

nised in the Parthenon metopes, we shall be inclined 
to attribute the metopes of the Theseum to a simi- 
lar, but not to the same, school, and to a school 
more closely bound up with the earlier Attic tradi- 
tions. Such a school may be that recorded to have 
been founded by Critius, who joined with Nesiotes to 
make the statues of the Tyrannicides ; but we must 
remember that any such conjecture, though affording a 
convenient name, must not be regarded as an estab- 
lished fact. 

The continuous friezes of the Theseum were not 
identical in their arrangement. That at the west end, 
which contained scenes from the battle of the Lapiths 
and Centaurs, extended only over the front of the temple 
itself, between the antas and above the columns. That 
at the east end not only covered this space, but also 
extended in the same line, on each side, across the 
colonnade; and the distribution of the groups it con- 
tains takes these architectural conditions into account. 
Above each of the antae is a comparatively quiet group 
of seated gods; outside these, at each end, are groups 
of captors with prisoners ; while the middle space is 
taken up by a wild scene of battle, in which the com- 
batants, on one side at least, appear to hurl huge stones 
as their weapons, while their antagonists are armed as 
Greek warriors. A probable explanation of the scene 
appears to be that Greeks, probably Athenians, are here 
represented as righting some gigantic or barbarous foes ; 
the suggestion of O. Muller is that these are the Pallan- 
2 E 



4 i8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

tids, fifty gigantic sons of Pallas, who disputed the 
kingdom of Attica with Theseus. Though many other 
suggestions have since been made, no other seems 
to fit the circumstances so completely; for in the midst 
is one heroic figure who bears the brunt of the combat, 
and may well be Theseus himself ; even if the temple is 
not the Theseum, there is no doubt that his deeds are 
represented in some of the metopes, and so he might 
well appear on the frieze also. 

The battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs, which 
is the subject of the inner or continuous frieze at the 
west end of the temple, is of a simpler composition. Its 
extent, as we have already noticed, is limited to the 
space above the antae and columns. In the midst is a 
great group, familiar on vase-paintings, of which the 
central figure is the invulnerable Caeneus. He is buried 
to the waist in the stones that the Centaurs are piling 
on him, but he still protects himself with sword and 
shield ; and on either side another Greek comes to his 
aid. In the rest of the frieze there is a distinct ten- 
dency for the composition to break up into pairs of com- 
batants, each of which would fit into the square frame of 
a metope ; and some of these groups have a strong 
resemblance to certain metopes of the Parthenon. This 
resemblance has given rise to much ' discussion, some 
authorities maintaining that the Theseum frieze is di- 
rectly copied from the Parthenon metopes, while others 
think the resemblance may be sufficiently explained by a 
common tradition ; the subject, being a suitable one for 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 419 

metopes, may have become stereotyped into a series 
of groups with a limited number of motives. The truth 
probably lies between the two extreme views. The 
Theseum frieze shows considerable difference in style 
from the metopes of the Parthenon, and cannot be a 
work of the same school, or directly dependent on them. 
Moreover, there are other cases besides that of Caeneus 
where the groups are too extensive to be derived from 
metopes ; and the west frieze of the Theseum, as well as 
the east, shows some bold examples of foreshortening 
and other pictorial devices which are foreign to the 
character of the Parthenon, and show more affinity with 
painting. At the same time, it must be admitted that a 
set of compositions as bold and vigorous as the metopes 
of the Parthenon was likely to influence an almost 
contemporary work dealing with the same subject, and 
the resemblances that have been pointed out are 'too 
close to be attributed to mere coincidence. If we allow 
for the difference of architectural conditions, the friezes 
and metopes of the Theseum do not, so far as we can 
judge, show anything like the difference in style which 
we see between frieze and metopes in the Parthenon. 
The temple, being a small one, was probably more 
quickly completed, and with less variety in the sculptors 
employed to decorate it. 

The pedimental sculpture of the Theseum has left 
traces on the bed of the pediments similar to that which 
we have noticed in the case of the Parthenon. These 
traces have been recorded and studied in both instances 



420 ANCIENT ATHENS 

with the same care by Professor Sauer. In the case of 
the Parthenon his investigations have, as we have 
seen, led to valuable results. There, however, they 
were supplemented by classical references to the subject 
of the pediments, by extant remains of the sculpture, 
and by drawings made by earlier travellers when the 
groups were in better condition. In the case of the 
Theseum no such aids exist; and apart from them it 
might well be doubted whether any satisfactory infer- 
ences could be drawn from the mere traces of weathering 
and other indications left on the building. Professor 
Sauer, however, has not despaired ; from the available 
evidence he has inferred, not only the number and 
disposition, but also to some extent the position and 
character of the figures represented. He has then, with 
the help of reliefs and vase-paintings, devised a subject 
for the east pediment — the birth of Erichthonius from 
the Earth, who hands him over to the care of Athena 
in the presence of Hephaestus and Cecrops — which can 
be reconciled with the extant indications. 1 Here, how- 
ever, while we cannot but admire the ingenuity with 
which Professor Sauer has supported his theory, it 
cannot seriously be maintained that he has done more 
than give a possible solution of the problem. Another 
archaeologist, possessed of equal knowledge and acumen, 
could probably suggest another solution which would fit 
equally well the marks on the ground of the pediment ; 

1 1'rofessor Sauer also proposes a restoration of the west pediment; but it is less 
satisfactory in itself and based on less evidence. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 421 

and, in any case, so highly conjectural a restoration is 
not admissible as evidence for the identification of the 
temple. 

It is a curious chance that has left the identification 
of the best-preserved of all Greek temples, a temple, too, 
in a conspicuous position in the town of Athens, in a 
state of uncertainty ; for, although several identifications 
have been proposed with a considerable degree of con- 
fidence, and have, met with some acceptance, none of 
them can yet be said to have obtained any general con- 
sensus of opinion in its favour. It is, therefore, still 
customary to call the building by the name " Theseum," 
although hardly any authorities now accept that identi- 
fication ; 1 even Professor Sauer, who has decided views 
on the subject, retains " Theseum " in the title of his 
book. 

The data for identification are, briefly, as follows : 
The building is clearly a temple ; and, as it faced east, 
it was presumably dedicated to a god, not to a hero. 2 
It may be dated, both from its architectural forms and 
from the style of its sculptures, as almost exactly con- 
temporary with the Parthenon. The subjects of its 
sculptures are, in the metopes, the exploits of Hera- 
cles and Theseus ; in the friezes, a combat with some 
gigantic or savage enemy who cannot be identified with 
certainty, and the battle of the Greeks and Centaurs ; 

1 The only notable exception, I believe, is Mr. Penrose, who bases his belief 
mainly on the orientation, which fits his theory. 

2 This rule that a heroum faces west seems to be usually observed, though clear 
instances are rare ; the temple of the Dioscuri at Naucratis faces west. 



4 2 2 ANCIENT ATHENS 

in the pediments, groups which have completely dis- 
appeared. It is situated on a low hill just to the west 
of the Agora, probably to be identified as Colonos 
Agoraios, in the quarter of Melite ; Pausanias mentions 
two or three temples in this neighbourhood, and others 
are recorded by various writers. The suggestions as to 
the identification that have met with most acceptance 
are that it is the Theseum, the temple of Hephaestus, 
the temple of Apollo Patrous, or the temple of Heracles 
in Melite, not to include other guesses that are topo- 
graphically or otherwise inadmissible. 

Of these the identification of the building as the The- 
seum is excluded both by the date of the building — 
for Cimon brought the bones of Theseus from Scyros 
in 469 B.C. — and by its position ; for Pausanias men- 
tions the Theseum among other buildings which we 
know to have lain to the east of the Agora. Its general 
acceptance in earlier times is due simply to the repre- 
sentation of the exploits of Theseus on the metopes. 
The assignment of the temple to Apollo Patrous, also, 
is inadmissible topographically, since that temple was 
in the Agora, not above it to the west ; and, moreover, 
there is nothing appropriate to this in the sculptures. 
The temple of Hephaestus is, topographically, the most 
suitable; for Pausanias describes that temple as above 
the Stoa Basileios, and this can hardly mean anything 
but on the little hill where the Theseum stands ; this 
identification was advocated by Dr. Lolling, is sup- 
ported by Professor Dorpfeld, and is provisionally ac- 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 423 

cepted by Mr. Frazer, after a careful summary of all 
the evidence. Whether we accept it or not will mainly 
depend on the weight we assign to the subject of the 
extant sculptures in metopes and friezes; for whatever 
interpretation we may give to them, it is not easy to 
bring them into any relation with Hephaestus. This 
is frankly admitted on all hands ; but it is suggested 
that the subjects of metopes and friezes, being of sub- 
ordinate importance, need not necessarily have any 
relation to the deity to whom the temple is dedicated ; 
and the temple of Zeus at Olympia and the Parthe- 
non itself are quoted to prove this statement. They 
do not, however, offer an exact parallel. The relation 
of Heracles to Zeus, especially at Olympia, where, ac- 
cording to one account, he instituted the games, makes 
his labours an appropriate subject for his father's tem- 
ple ; and on the Parthenon, the subjects of the metopes, 
both in themselves and in their allegorical interpreta- 
tion, were by no means indifferent to Athena ; nor can 
miscellaneous sets of metopes, like those of Selinus, be 
quoted in this connection, for the sculptures of the 
Theseum are evidently all part of a common design. 
And even if we leave out uncertain subjects, there is 
nothing in the story of the Centaurs and Lapiths that 
can be considered at all appropriate to Hephaestus, while 
to carve exploits of Heracles and Theseus upon his 
temple would be a very doubtful compliment to him. 
It seems wiser not to accept as certain an identi- 
fication that involves such an improbability, upon the 



4 2 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

somewhat uncertain evidence of a topographical in- 
ference. 

There remains the theory of Curtius and others that 
the " Theseum " is the temple of Heracles in Melite. 
The topographical evidence is not against this, though 
not very strong in its favour, since Melite was an exten- 
sive region. The fact that Pausanias has omitted all 
reference to this temple, if it was so conspicuous and so 
near to his route, may require some explanation. But 
we must remember that he only gives us a selection 
from his notes. And perhaps the conspicuousness of 
the temple at the present day leads us to an unwar- 
ranted assumption that it was equally conspicuous in 
ancient times. The great majority of the temples men-, 
tioned by Pausanias — not to speak of those which he 
omits — have disappeared without leaving any trace 
behind them ; when they were all standing, many of 
them probably larger and richer in works of art than 
the " Theseum," it may have been easy enough for a 
traveller to overlook a building that the fortunate chance 
of Christian use has caused to survive its fellows. It 
would, however, be rash to assert that a temple was 
dedicated to Heracles merely because he appears on its 
metopes. If, then, we infer that the identification of the 
" Theseum " as the temple of Heracles in Melite is per- 
haps the most probable among the attempts that have 
been made to give it a place among the temples re- 
corded in Athens, this opinion must be qualified by 
the reservation that it is quite possible no classical 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 425 

writer has happened to refer to this temple or to 
record its name. Such a conclusion may seem unsatis- 
factory, but it is better than the assertion of cer- 
tainty where certainty is unattainable on the evidence 
before us. 

In the Asclepieum below the Acropolis, though little 
is preserved but the foundation, the identification of the 
site is not doubtful, and its arrangements are easy to 
trace. We have already noticed 1 that there existed in 
early Athens, to the west of the Theatre, and just below 
the rock of the Acropolis, a sacred spring and precinct 
probably dedicated to some deity of healing. The 
position is well adapted for the purpose, on a terrace 
below the south wall of the Acropolis, where it was 
sheltered from the cold winds, and where the rock 
caught and retained the full heat of the sun. For the 
invalids went there mostly in the evening, to stay 
the night in the building assigned to them. The wor- 
ship of Asclepius seems to have been introduced into 
Athens from Epidaurus sometime during the Pelo- 
ponnesian War, and to have found a home in this 
precinct. 

The plan of the buildings which it contains shows 
considerable resemblance to that of the precinct of the 
god at Epidaurus; it is doubtless partly traditional, partly 
dictated by the necessities of the healing cult. It in- 
cludes propylaea, or a gate of entrance ; a cistern to hold 
the water for the preliminary purification outside the 

1 p. 77, above. 



426 ANCIENT ATHENS 

precinct ; a temple 1 and altar for the god ; a portico or 
gallery for the patients to sleep in ; and, probably as a 
survival from earlier times, a pit of sacrifice and a 
sacred well or spring. We have already noticed the 
sacred spring and its early precinct ; in later times the 
little cave that contained it was entered by a door in 
the back of the portico. The pit of sacrifice, built of 
early polygonal masonry, was also retained at the back 
of the west end of the portico and on a higher level ; 
it was covered by an architectural canopy supported 
upon four columns, of which the bases, in black Eleu- 
sinian stone, still remain in situ — a structure analogous, 
though much simpler in design, to the famous Tholus 
of Polyclitus, or, as it is officially called, the Thymele, 
at Epidaurus. Of the temple and the altar the foun- 
dations only remain ; they were on a small scale, and 
probably had nothing peculiar about their design. But 
the characteristic feature of the precinct is the por- 
tico in which the invalids slept. This backs against the 
rock of the Acropolis. Its front, for about a quarter of 
its length, was an open colonnade ; in the remaining part 
there was a wall between the columns, and traces of a 
staircase imply that there was also a second floor. 2 At 
the east end, where it abuts on the great supporting wall 

1 Or possibly two temples ; the repair of an " old temple " is mentioned in an inscrip- 
tion of Roman date, CIA. II. i. Add. 4890. 

2 As this is erroneously given on many plans, it is well to notice that there was 
originally a column on every third block of the styloboe, and a short wall, ending in 
an anta, at each end. There were sixteen columns between the antce ; the closed 
part began at the twelfth column, reckoning from the east to the west end. 



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THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 429 

of the Theatre, there is a narrow space partitioned off 
from the rest of the portico, and the dado of marble, 
which stretches along the back, is not continued beyond 
this partition. There is a similar partition at the end of 
the Abaton or portico in which the patients slept at 
Epidaurus, and the purpose in both cases was probably 
the same — perhaps to form a den for the sacred snakes, 
which were let loose at night to wander among the inva- 
lids sleeping in the portico. We have in the PluHts of 
Aristophanes a description of an invalid's visit to the god, 
which is most instructive in its relation to the extant re- 
mains ; for, although the narrative is relieved by comic 
touches, there is no doubt that it gives, on the whole, a 
truthful description of what usually took place. The 
slave, Karion, relates how he and his master took the blind 
Plutus to consult Asclepius. First of all, they led him 
to the Thalatta, the lustral spring or cistern, which we 
can still trace just outside the western boundary of the 
precinct, and there performed the proper ablutions. 
Then they entered the precinct of the god, and offered 
cakes and other oblations on the altar; they put Plutus 
to bed in due form, and many others were there, suffer- 
ing from divers diseases. The attendant of the god 
came and put out the lights, and bade them sleep, 
telling them if they heard any noise to keep silence. 
So they all lay quiet. But the slave, who kept awake, 
saw the priest going round gathering the cakes and 
other offerings from the holy table and other altars. 
After this the god himself appeared, accompanied by 



43 o ANCIENT ATHENS 

his daughters, Iaso and Panacea, and went round all the 
cases in due order ; a boy attended him with a pestle 
and mortar and a box of simples. When he came to 
an unworthy suppliant, he put on him a stinging plas- 
ter that made him worse than before ; but when Plutus' 
turn came, the god sat down beside him and touched 
his head, and then took a clean napkin and wiped his 
eyes. Panacea covered his head and face with a purple 
cloth ; then the god whistled, and two gigantic snakes 
came from the temple, and crept under the purple 
cloth and seemed to lick his eyes. Then immediately 
Plutus rose up with his sight restored, and the god and 
his snakes disappeared into the temple. And all the in- 
valids who were sleeping in the place gathered round to 
congratulate Plutus, and kept awake until day dawned. 

The close correspondence between this passage of Aris- 
tophanes and the official records of the cures at Epi- 
daurus * shows that the poet is following pretty closely 
the actual customs of the ritual of Asclepius, though it 
is possible he may be, intentionally or unintentionally, 
confusing two types of cure which seem to be distinct in 
the official lists — the therapeutic or surgical, and the 
miraculous or "faith-healing." The regular formula at 
Epidaurus is " so and so, suffering from such and such a 
complaint, came and slept in the Abaton and saw a dream 
or vision. The god or a snake came and touched the 
part affected, and, when day dawned, he went out whole." 
There are numerous varieties of detail : sometimes, for 

1 See Cawadias, Epidaure; also 'E<p. ' Apx- 1883, pp. 199; 1885, pp. I, 199. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 431 

instance, it is a dog that effects the cure; sometimes the 
patient is expressly said to be awake, not sleeping ; and 
sometimes, as in the Plutus, an unworthy applicant is 
punished for his presumption in approaching the god. 
But two or three things seem to be clear. In the first 
place, there were a certain number of genuine " miracu- 
lous "cures, just as there are at the present day, probably 
for the most part in nervous diseases or hysterical cases, 
at the festival of Tenos, which presents many analogies 
with the ancient cult of Asclepius. There one may see, 
at the present day, on the feast of the Annunciation, the 
invalids duly put to bed in the church and in the crypt 
below it; and almost every year there are instances 
of visions seen in the night, of instantaneous cures 
of apparently hopeless cases, and of crowds flock- 
ing to congratulate the subject of the miracle. The 
similarity in this last detail is most interesting, since it 
shows how, in modern as in ancient times, the many 
who were not cured could forget their disappointment 
in the rejoicing over the one successful case. It may be 
that the visions were assisted by the presence of actual 
snakes, let loose for the purpose, and even by the 
priests' impersonation of Asclepius and his attendants — 
a deception by no means difficult in the darkness and in 
the atmosphere of faith. But there is little doubt that 
the priests of Asclepius in many places acquired also, 
by tradition and experience, considerable skill in medi- 
cine and surgery. The physician Hippocrates was a 
member of the priestly family of the Asclepiadae of Cos. 



432 ANCIENT ATHENS 

The Asclepieum, as was only to be expected, was very 
rich in votive offerings. Inventories of these have sur- 
vived, as well as a certain number of the offerings them- 
selves ; one of the poems of Herondas, describing a visit 
to the Asclepieum at Cos, shows how such a shrine could 
develop into a museum of works of art. While the 
Athenian precinct may have had no such exceptional 
richness, it certainly was a place where people commonly 
resorted to view the offerings ; else it would not have 
occurred to the Mt/cpo^iXdrt/xo? of Theophrastus to make 
a display of polishing a worthless ring he had dedicated 
there. In earlier times a customary offering for a grate- 
ful patient was an image of the god himself, most fre- 
quently a relief, in which he was represented as attended 
by his sons and daughters, often by Iaso and Panacea; 
and the worshipper and his family, usually on a smaller 
scale, often approach him with suitable offerings. The 
representation of the " banquet of a hero," which is com- 
mon on tombstones, 1 is often used in the same way for 
Asclepius, with the addition of worshippers on a smaller 
scale. Another very common form of offering, especially 
in later times, was a relief with a representation of the 
part of the body that had been cured, or to which the 
god s attention was requested — a pair of eyes or ears or 
breasts, a hand or a leg. Probably such offerings were 
often made in precious metals on a small scale, like the 
similar objects, cut out of silver plate, which may be seen 
attached to the sacred pictures in many Greek churches 

1 See p. 471, below. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 433 

at the present day. Such representations were not usu- 
ally of the nature of pathological models — though some 
examples to the contrary are known ; as a rule the dedi- 
cation showed the limb or member in its normal healthy 
state, and so offended neither against good taste nor 
against religious propriety. 

The Theatre of Dionysus is situated just to the east 
of the Asclepieum; the topmost part of its curve is actu- 
ally scarped out of the rock of the Acropolis, having in 
the midst of it the little cave faced with the choragic 
monument of Thrasyllus. 1 It slopes down to the pre- 
cinct of Dionysus Eleuthereus, where there already ex- 
isted, at least from the time of Pisistratus, if not earlier, 
the small temple and primitive dancing-place of which 
we have already noticed the remains. 2 We do not know 
the exact date at which the performance of plays was 
transferred from the early orchestra in the Agora to the 
site of the Great Theatre ; but it is probable that most of 
the plays of the great Attic dramatists were first per- 
formed on the site that the tradition of ancient as 
well as of modern times associated with them. As soon 
as the drama had attained the popularity which we know 
it possessed at Athens in the fifth century, the perform- 
ances cannot well have been held except in a place where 
the slope of the ground enabled a large audience to as- 
semble and to have a good view of the actors and chorus. 
A temporary scaffolding, such as appears to have been 
used at first, would no longer suffice ; and so recourse 

1 See pp. 403-404, above. 2 See p. 122, above. 

2 F 



434 ANCIENT ATHENS 

would be had to the slope of the south side of the Acro- 
polis above the old dancing-place. It is possible that a 
tradition of the change is preserved in the story that in 
499 B.C., when ^Eschylus was, perhaps for the first time, 
competing for the prize of tragedy, the wooden structure 
supporting the benches of the spectators gave way, dur- 
ing the performance of a play by Pratinas, and that in 
consequence a permanent theatre was built, to avoid such 
accidents for the future. 'This story has often been 
quoted as evidence for the age of the present stone thea- 
tre; but there are many indications, both in the materials 
and in the technique of the construction, which show that 
so early a date is impossible. The later limit of date is 
fixed by a decree in honour of Lycurgus, which mentions 
the Theatre of Dionysus among the buildings which Ly- 
curgus completed, having found them in an unfinished 
state. This last statement has given rise to a consider- 
able variety of interpretation ; while, on the one hand, it 
clearly shows that the Theatre in its present state 1 cannot 
date from the beginning of the fifth century, it shows 
equally clearly, on the other hand, that the general de- 
sign of the Theatre must belong to an earlier age than 
that of Lycurgus. Beyond this, there is really not much 
to be inferred from the inscription ; it certainly does not 
justify the conclusion that the Theatre, as we now see it, 
belongs essentially to the time of Lycurgus. We are, 
therefore, obliged to rely on architectural evidence for the 

1 This means, of course, apart from later changes and modifications, as to which 
all authorities are practically agreed. 




THE THEATRE FROM THE EAST. 
Above, on the left, Museum Hill and monument of Philopappus. 















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THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 435 

date, both of the auditorium and of the earliest stage 
buildings. With these we may conveniently associate 
the later temple, since we have, in its case, external evi- 
dence available as to its date. 

There are the remains of two successive temples of 
Dionysus in the precinct below the Theatre. The earlier 
and smaller of these belongs, in all probability, to the 
time of Pisistratus. The later was built to contain the 
gold and ivory statue of the god by Alcamenes. This 
latter building is of considerable importance to the 
technical history of architecture in Athens. Its founda- 
tions only are preserved, but these are of conglomerate 
or breccia, and probably show the earliest occurrence of 
this material in a building that can be at least approxi- 
mately dated. The artistic activity of Alcamenes lasts 
from the age of Phidias to the end of the fifth century ; 
but it is very improbable that the Athenians would have 
been able, during the latter part of the Peloponnesian 
War or the few years that followed it, to dedicate a 
statue of such expensive materials, and on a colossal 
scale. On the other hand, none of the buildings of the 
Periclean age "show any use of breccia for foundations. 
The temple of Dionysus must, therefore, in all prob- 
ability, belong to some time between the Peace of Nicias 
in 421 B.C. and the start of the disastrous Sicilian expedi- 
tion in 415 b.c. 1 And, if so, there is no reason for deny- 



1 Professor Dorpfeld, Gr. Theater, p. 22, suggests a later date, early in the fourth 
century ; but this is not easy to reconcile with the probable dates of the career of 
Alcamenes. 



436 ANCIENT ATHENS 

ing that the stone theatre also may have been begun 
about the same time. 

If we accept this as the most probable conclusion, — 
and it must be remembered that, while the extant Theatre 
may be later, it cannot well be earlier than the date just 
suggested, — it follows that all the plays of ^Eschylus, the 
majority of those of Sophocles and Euripides, and the 
earlier ones of Aristophanes, were all performed in 
an earlier structure, of which nothing is left except, 
perhaps, the circle of the orchestra and some traces of 
foundation in the western parodos. 1 The extant remains 
are deprived by this fact of a considerable part of their 
interest, both from the archaeological and from the 
purely sentimental point of view. The arrangements 
for the performances of the Attic drama in its greatest 
days remain to a great extent a matter of inference or 
conjecture. It seems probable, however, that even then 
the natural slope of the hill was supplemented, at least 
on the wings, by artificial substructures. The old circle 
of the orchestra may still have remained in use, and 
on the side away from the hill a temporary booth, or 
scena, may have been erected when required. The 
front of this had already received some architectural 
form and decoration, to make it suitable to serve as 
the palace front already conventionally adopted as 
the usual tragic background ; whether or not there 
was any platform or stage erected in front of it for 
the actors to mount upon is a question of which the 

1 Marked " foundations of passage " in plan. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 437 

answer depends on the whole issue of the controversy 
as to whether there was or was not a raised stage in 
the Greek theatre — a controversy which it is impos- 
sible even to summarise here, though a few words 
more must be said about it after w r e have considered 
the extant remains of stage buildings in the Theatre of 
Dionysus. Whether we are investigating the auditorium 
or the stage buildings of this Theatre, we must always 
remember that it originated in a natural hillside sloping 
down to an old dancing-place, that it was only gradually 
adapted by artificial improvements to its later purpose, 
and that it served as the prototype from which all other 
ancient theatres were more or less directly imitated. 
It would therefore be superfluous, at least in the case of 
the earlier buildings, to look for either regularity of plan 
or for conformity to the rules about the construction 
and proportions of theatres that were deduced by later 
theoretical architects from a study of extant examples. 
In the case of the auditorium the irregularity of shape is 
most marked. The orchestra is, it is true, of one of the 
normal forms — a semicircle prolonged by tangents on 
each wing; but the great retaining wall has a shape 
which is evidently dictated by no consideration except 
the necessity of getting seats for as many people as 
possible into the available space. At the top the rock 
of the Acropolis is scarped in an irregular curve, and at 
the bottom of the scarp are some seats cut in the solid 
rock. On the west side the curve of the scarp is con- 
tinued round for some distance, and then the extreme 



43 8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

wing is continued by a straight line running out at an 
angle from the end of the curve ; * on the east side, 
which is not so well preserved, the shape appears to have 
been even more irregular. The massive retaining walls 
are built of a core of breccia, faced on the outside with a 
casing of Piraic limestone. The auditorium seems to 
have been divided into an upper and lower portion by a 
road which ran round it, following the curve of the 
seats. This road emerged 'by the passage still visible 
just to the south of the Asclepieum, and served the 
purpose that was fulfilled by the diazoma in other 
theatres. In the upper part of the theatre the seats 
have now almost entirely disappeared, and so it is im- 
possible to judge either of their appearance or of the 
^— ^ acoustic properties of the building ; those 

Mm^^K who wish to judge of either of these 
©~\. Mm must go to lipictaurus, where the theatre 
\Q^^^^y built by Polyclitus is not only harmoni- 
ous and beautiful in its lines to a degree 

Athenian Coin. , -, . , . . - 

that must be seen to be appreciated, but 

View of Theatre, with x x 

caves above it, and so admirably adapted to its purpose that 

Acropolis. 

a conversation in an ordinary voice can 
be heard with ease over a space that would contain about 
seventeen thousand people. The theatre at Athens is 
larger; Plato's estimate of thirty thousand is probably 
only meant for a rough approximation, but it has been 

1 Into this south-west corner is built a stone with an inscription which has been 
quoted as evidence of date ; but the forms of the letters are so abnormal as to give 
no certain indication. They could well be earlier than any date to which the 
Theatre can be assigned with probability. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 439 

calculated that it could have seated at least twenty 
thousand people. Though its acoustic properties have 
suffered considerably from the loss of the intermediate 
seats, they are still good; and it cannot be supposed 
that the democratic audiences of Athens would have 
tolerated any performance which was not audible 
throughout the building. 

The seats are divided, at least in the lower part, into 
thirteen wedges, separated by twelve staircases, the 
steps of the staircases being sloped, so that only one 
step is required for each tier of seats. The ordinary 
seats are made of single blocks, the surface of each 
being divided into three parts: the front, slightly raised 
to form the seat itself; the middle, sunk to offer space 
for the feet of the spectator in the seat above ; and 
the back part, serving as a support to the next seat 
behind. The seats are also divided transversely, by 
cuts in their front surface, so as to define the space 
allowed for each spectator ; this is only about thirteen 
inches. It seems at first sight a very small allow- 
ance ; 1 but we must remember that in the open air 
crowding would be less intolerable ; and that, when there 
was only a single performance of each play, and conse- 
quently everybody who wished to see it must attend that 

1 Cf. Schultz, Megalopolis, p. 42: "As this allowance of 13 inches per person 
seems at first sight so absurdly small, I have made inquiries with regard to the 
minimum space usually calculated for each person in a modern London theatre. I 
am informed that, although the minimum space per person, recognised by the County 
Council, is 18 inches, as a matter of practice, theatre managers find that, in the pit 
and gallery, where the seats have no dividing arms, people can be got to occupy as 
small a space as 14 inches per person, and that 16 inches is a good allowance." 



44Q 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



one performance, it was necessary to put up with some 
discomfort in order to enable as many as possible to be 
present. We know that the Athenians in other matters, 
such as the length or continuity of the performances, were 
capable of enduring what would seem intolerable even 
to the most enthusiastic audiences of the present day. 
The lowest row of seats consisted of thrones, not 
continuous benches, as at Epidaurus, Megalopolis, and 
elsewhere, but separate seats, like solid marble chairs, 
placed side by side, sometimes two or three carved out of 
a single block. Here there was no lack of space or dig- 
nity. All have the graceful curve of back and legs with 
which we are familiar in the wooden chairs represented 
on Greek vases of the best period. The central throne 
of the central block not only has arms as well as back, 
but is ornamented with carving in low relief. Below 

the seat, in front, are 
conventional groups of 
Gryphons fighting with 
Arimaspi ; on the back are 
Satyrs in the attitude of 
supporting figures, treated 
with a slight touch of 
archaism that suits their 
decorative purpose. But 
the most beautiful piece of work is on the outside of 
the arms. Here we see on each side a most graceful 
winged Eros, kneeling to set a cock to fight ; the relief 
is of the most admirably delicate execution and design, 




Middle Block of Front Seats in the 
Theatre. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 441 

and it is impossible to assign it to a later date than the 
fourth century. We may safely infer that these thrones, 
if they were not already there before the time of 
Lycurgus, were part of the work contributed by him to 
the completion of the theatre. 

In front of the thrones is a broad gangway, sloping 
gently toward the orchestra, and serving to give access 
not only to the thrones themselves but also to the stair- 
cases that led up between them. This gangway is, on 
its inner edge, raised one step above the orchestra level ; 
and against this edge has been fixed, in Roman times, a 
row of vertical slabs, with the marks of a metal grating 
fixed above them; these slabs have no relation to the 
legitimate use of the Theatre, but were placed there to 
give protection to the audience at the performance of 
gladiatorial or other shows, and, according to some 
authorities, to contain also the water with which the or- 
chestra could be flooded on occasion, to serve for mimic 
sea-fights and other aquatic displays. We must then 
imagine the slabs as absent in an attempt to realise the 
appearance of the Theatre as it was in the fourth cen- 
tury. Without them, the effect is much more spacious 
and dignified. Between the gangway and the orchestra 
runs a deep channel, such as is always necessary in the- 
atres to carry off the water that falls within an uncovered 
building of so extensive an area ; it is emptied by means 
of a drain that runs beneath the scena to the south-east. 
The channel is bridged over by slabs that gave access to 
the foot of the various staircases ; spaces were left at 



442 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Theatre and Olymvijsum prom Acropolis. 
The foundations of the various stages are visible. 

intervals between these slabs to admit the water. The 
slabs with perforated drain holes in them that now serve 
the same purpose are of Roman date, probably contem- 
porary with the paving of the orchestra in blue and white 
marble. The orchestra of Greek times consisted prob- 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 443 

ably, like that at Epidaurus, merely of hardened earth. 
A small altar may have been placed at the same time as 
the pavement in the centre of the orchestra, but the con- 
ventional opinion that the thymele always occupied this 
position in Greek theatres rests on no satisfactory evi- 
dence. The earthen floor of the orchestra was probably 
on a level with the sill that borders the surrounding 
channel. But this sill was not continued, as at Epidau- 
rus, so as to form a complete circle ; indeed, the shape of 
the lowest tier of seats at Athens would be ill adapted to 
such an arrangement. 

The stage buildings in the Theatre are far from easy 
to trace on the spot. The published plans of the building 
give a fairly accurate notion of what may now be seen, 
but, in order to be intelligible, they require to be supple- 
mented by a more detailed plan of the earliest extant 
scena, as shown by excavations that are now filled in 
again, and as restored by architectural inferences. The 
extant remains of this scena consist only of its foun- 
dations, constructed of breccia; these take the form of 
a long rectangular hall, with a square projection into 
each parodos opposite the border of the orchestra ; this 
hall backs against a long stoa, constructed of similar 
material, as far as its foundations are concerned. In the 
middle of its back wall is a very massive projecting block 
of masonry. The foundations of the wall facing the 
orchestra (20) and of the projecting wings (22) are very 
wide — wider than is necessary to carry an ordinary wall 
or a row of small columns, such as those still standing in 



444 ANCIENT ATHENS 

the Theatre. As to the restoration of the building resting 
on these foundations, there are two main theories: the 
one, that of Professor Dorpfeld, 1 asserting that no stage 
need be assumed, and that we need only look for a back- 
ground for actors on the level of the orchestra; the other, 
recently advocated with much ingenuity by Professor 
Puchstein, 2 assuming that a stage is probable, and 
accordingly regarding the restoration of the first floor 
of* the building, not of that on a level with the orchestra, 
as the essential matter. The two alternative restorations 
given in the plan will suffice to make clear the points at 
issue. But before we can discuss them we must notice 
another portion of the extant structures that is brought 
into this connection by Professor Dorpfeld. This is a 
narrow stylobate of Hymettus marble, with traces of 
columns upon it, and with the shafts of some columns 
still standing. This stylobate is shown in the general 
plan of the Theatre (23 and 21), where it now exists, 
about ten feet in front of the breccia foundations of the 
scena, where they face the orchestra, and continued in a 
slightly projecting wing on each side, above the project- 
ing wing of the breccia foundation, but well within 
its front. The stylobate corresponds pretty closely in 
position and plan to the similar stylobate at Epidaurus, 
and there is practically no dispute as to the restoration 
of the structure that rested upon it — a column-fronted 
proscenium, such as has been found in almost all later 
Greek theatres, and of the proportions prescribed by 

1 Das griechische Theater. 2 Die griechische Biihne. 




EXTANT FOUNDATIONS - ORCHESTRA LEVEL. 




DORPFELD'S RESTORATION. 




PUCHSTEIN'S RESTORATION - FIRST FLOOR LEVEL. 
SCENA OF THEATRE. 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 445 

Vitruvius, Even this question, however, is not so simple 
as it appears at first sight; for the stylobate has, in 
addition to the traces of the columns that stood upon it 
as now fitted together, traces of another set of columns 
differently spaced; and Professor Dorpfeld has shown 
that, according to the earlier intercolumniation, it is 
possible to restore the original arrangement of the slabs 
of the stylobate in such a manner as to make them fit 
exactly on to the front portion of the broad breccia foun- 
dation facing the orchestra, and also to make them run 
out at both sides over the projecting wings of this 
breccia foundation. The columns, according to this 
arrangement, are not evenly spaced, but have broader 
intercolumniations opposite the three doors in the wall, 
which Professor Dorpfeld restores as standing on the 
back part of the breccia foundation in its central portion. 
On the wings he restores the columns as standing out 
free. 

Two very obvious objections raised by Professor 
Puchstein against this restoration are that it is unlikely 
that the foundation would have been made so broad 
on the wings if it had been originally intended to carry 
only this narrow stylobate, and that the effect of 
columns standing close to a wall in the middle, 1 and 
standing free on the wings, w r ould be very awkward ; 
he also points out that the exact fitting of the stylo- 

1 Professor Puchstein goes so far as to say that columns set immediately in front 
of a wall are unknown to Greek architecture of good period. But such general 
statements are always hazardous, since they may any day be upset by a new dis- 
covery. 



446 ANCIENT ATHENS 

bate to the foundation is a less convincing piece of 
evidence than it appears, since a considerable margin 
for error is allowed by the breadth of the foundation. 
These technical points will probably weigh less with 
most of us than more general considerations as to the 
probabilities of the case, and the analogy of other 
theatres. Wherever elsewhere we find a proscenium 
faced with low columns, it stands far enough out from 
the wall of the seen a to' enable a platform some ten 
feet wide to rest on the top of it ; and it therefore 
seems improbable that at Athens the prototype of all 
theatres should have had its proscenium differently 
constructed, though similar in appearance from the 
front. Such a form would be more suitable for an 
imitation of a conventional arrangement. However, 
those who are convinced that Professor Dorpfeld is right 
in denying altogether the existence of a stage in the 
normal Greek theatre, and in asserting that the column- 
i front proscenium of later times was used as a back- 
ground for actors in the orchestra, not as a platform 
for them to stand upon, will do well to accept also his 
restoration of the earliest permanent stage buildings at 
Athens. Those, on the other hand, who think the 
evidence clear that the proscenium, about twelve feet 
high and ten feet wide, which exists in most Greek 
theatres, was used as a platform or stage for the 
actors to stand on, will naturally look for something 
analogous at Athens. And there is no difficulty in 
restoring the earliest extant stage building at Athens 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 447 

according to their views. The space between the pro- 
jecting wings of the foundation would serve very con- 
veniently for the erection of a temporary wooden 
platform, such as is probable as the predecessor of the 
later stone proscenium, and such as is implied by the 
foundations of a wooden structure found at Megalo- 
polis, 1 at Sicyon, at Segesta, and elsewhere. A prob- 
able form for such a stage is suggested in Professor 
Puchstein's restoration ; it would be entered, not only 
from the back, by the usual three doors, but also by 
side doors from the projecting wings or parascenia. If 
this view be correct in the main, it will follow that the 
proscenium with marble columns is not contemporary 
with the breccia foundations of the earliest stage build- 
ings, but is of somewhat later origin. It has also been 
shifted from the position where it was at first placed, 
and has had its blocks and the columns upon it 
rearranged. 

We are now in a position to realise the chronological 
results of the architectural and other evidence, and of the 
various theories that are based upon it. Professor Dorp- 
feld regards the whole of the earliest extant scena, 
foundation, stylobate, and columns alike, as belonging 
to one time, and that the time of Lycurgus, the stylobate 
and columns having merely been shifted at a later date. 
According to this view, we have no monumental evi- 

1 My own previous view of a low wooden proscenium, as suggested at Megalo- 
polis, I do not now think probable, in view of the analogy of other theatres. It 
seems more likely that the wooden proscenium at Megalopolis was of the usual 
height, ten feet or so, and that a temporary scena was erected behind it. 



448 ANCIENT ATHENS 

dence earlier than about 338 b.c. as to the structure of 
the Theatre, and must depend, for the greater part of the 
fourth as well as for the fifth century, entirely on in- 
ferences from extant plays and from probability or from 
later tradition. We have, however, seen that the evidence 
does not compel us to adopt so extreme a view. Lycur- 
gus only finished what others had begun, and there seems 
to be no insuperable difficulty in assigning the main plan 
of the extant buildings to about the same time as the 
later temple of Dionysus — perhaps as early as 420 b.c. 
If this be the case, then we have actually some remains 
of the stage on which the plays of Sophocles, and Eurip- 
ides, and Aristophanes were first produced. What re- 
mains from so early a date can, however, be nothing but 
the foundation of the stage building ; the superstructure 
was probably a temporary erection of wood, and we can 
only recover its nature by probable conjecture. The stone 
proscenium which was later substituted for the wooden 
one may be the work of Lycurgus, but its shifting into 
its present position most probably belongs to a later age ; 
its original position may probably enough have been 
nearer to the lines of its wooden predecessor. 

The last few pages have necessarily been concerned 
with controversial matters. The divergent theories as 
to the existence or the absence of a stage platform in the 
Greek theatre are now so familiar to scholars and even 
to the general reader that they cannot be ignored ; yet it 
is impossible here to give an adequate summary of 
the arguments that have been adduced on either side. 




THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPEIUM, THE THEATRE 449 

All that can be done is to note that each opinion is held 
by many scholars whose authority is entitled to respect; 
accordingly the evidence offered by the extant remains 
of the Theatre of Dionysus has been stated in its rela- 
tion to each theory respectively; the interpretation that 
each reader will 
prefer will depend 
mainly on his 
views on the 
larger question. 
At the same time, 
it is only fair to 
state my own 
opinion that the 
use of the raised 
proscenium or 
\oyelov as a stage 
for the actors is 
established by 
very clear evi- 
dence in the case 
of the later Greek Dancing gin. 

theatre, and this analogy would lead one to expect some 
such platform in the Greek theatre of earlier times also. 
The changes of the Theatre in later times, though 
they have led to considerable modifications in its appear- 
ance, are neither so puzzling to the investigator nor so 
fruitful of controversy as those of earlier date. Among 
the various stage decorations, the graceful figures of 



By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Relief from Theatre. 



2 G 



450 ANCIENT ATHENS 

dancing girls probably belong to a good Greek period, 
rather than to a Roman imitation of Attic work. The 
Theatre seems to have remained much as it was, but 
for the shifting of the stone proscenium, until Roman 
times. There remain various architectural fragments, 
consisting of arcades, pillars faced with semicolumns, 
and supporting figures of Satyrs and Sileni which ap- 
pear to belong to a decorated scena ; and one of these 
has an inscription referring to Nero. The emperor's 
visit to Athens may probably have been the occasion 
of its erection ; to the same time may in all probability 
be assigned the sculptured frieze still visible in the 
orchestra ; and, if this frieze was originally placed as in 
the later structure that now contains it, on the front of 
the stage facing the orchestra, the stage must have been 
of Roman, not of Greek type, and have consisted of a 
broad, low platform. Another trace of this same stage 
may probably be recognised in the row of blocks of 
Piraic limestone that are set close against the breccia 
foundation of the front of the scena; they were prob- 
ably placed there in order to make the foundation broad 
enough to carry the scena of Roman times, with its pro- 
jecting architectural decorations. 

Further changes were introduced in the time of 
Hadrian, but mainly, so far as we can tell, in the audi- 
torium. Statues of the emperor were set up in each of 
the wedges of seats, and a small platform to carry his 
throne was erected in the central wedee. 

The latest stage, and the most conspicuous one at the 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 451 



present day, was constructed by an archon named 
Phaedrus, probably sometime in the third century a.d. ; 
his inscription is rudely carved on the top step of the 
short stair that leads from the orchestra to the top of the 
platform. The relief facing this stage, which is too well 
executed to be- 
long to such an 
age, and has been 
mutilated to fit it 
to its present use, 
was probably pre- 
pared, as has been 
said above, for the 
stage of Nero's 
time; it repre- 
sents on one panel 
the birth of Dio- 
nysus, who is held 
by Hermes in 
front of his father, 
Zeus ; on another 

a rustic Sacrifice Dancing girl. 

to the god ; and on the third a subject of doubtful 
interpretation, but probably allegorical. 

Behind the scena is a great portico, facing the precinct 
below ; it is clearly a part of the same design as the 
scena, and is probably contemporary with it ; its founda- 
tions also are of breccia. The stylobate and columns 
and the facing of the back of the portico were of bluish 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. ManseU & Sons. 

Relief from Theatre. 



452 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Hymettus marble, a material frequently used in the fourth 
century, though hardly at all in the fifth. This portico 
may well have been one of the things finished by 
Lycurgus; not being necessary for the performance of 
plays, it might well be left to the last. It doubtless 
served the purpose assigned by Vitruvius to porticoes 
near a theatre, to give shelter to the audience in case of 
a sudden shower; the same purpose would be served also 
by the adjoining Stoa of Eumenes, when it was built. 

The Theatre was not used only for dramatic perform- 
ances. So convenient a place of assembly, when ready 
for use, soon came to supersede the Pnyx as a place for 
the meetings of the Ecclesia, or general body of citizens ; 
and h Alopvctov or eV rco Oedrpcp is sometimes added to 
the preamble of decrees in the fourth century and later. 
At first perhaps, as in recorded instances, these assem- 
blies were to deal with matters concerning the state 
worship of Dionysus, but other matters of public interest 
soon came to be included; thus the crown given to 
Demosthenes, the subject of the two famous speeches of 
the orator and of his rival ^Eschines, was ordered to be 
presented to him in the Theatre at the time of the Great 
Dionysia. 

The precinct below the Theatre as well as the Theatre 
itself were thus places of resort, both at the Dionysiac 
festivals and at other times, and so became a favourite 
place for setting up the statues, not only of famous 
dramatic poets, but also of many poetasters, whose 
fame seemed even to the Greeks themselves inadequate 



THE THESEUM, THE ASCLEPIEUM, THE THEATRE 453 

to justify such an honour. It is probable that the 
statues which we possess of Sophocles, Euripides, and 
Menander are derived from the statues set up in the 
Theatre, though Pausanias himself remarks that the 
portrait of y^Eschylus was not a contemporary one. 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Sculptured Frieze, supporting Later Stage in Theatre. 

In fact, Lycurgus proposed the erection of statues to 
^schylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in the Theatre. 
There were also in the Theatre statues of Miltiades 
and Themistocles, each with a Persian captive beside 
him. The most important works of art recorded by 
Pausanias in the precinct, besides the colossal gold 
and ivory statue of the god by Alcamenes, consist of a 
series of pictures, probably frescoes, in the temple, and 
probably contemporary with it. The subjects of these 
were the return of Hephaestus to Olympus by the help of 
Dionysus, the punishment of Pentheus and Lycurgus 
for their violence to the god, and Dionysus approaching 



454 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Ariadne after her desertion by Theseus, — all of them 
favourite subjects on vases or other works of ancient art 
The small and ancient temple still continued to stand 
beside the later one, as is proved by the fact that the 
corner of the great portico behind the Theatre is cut 
away to fit into its steps. It contained the early wooden 
statue of Dionysus Eleuthereus, which was annually car- 
ried in solemn procession to the Academy. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE CERAMICUS^ 

TiOeaatv ovv is to hrjfxoaLov (Trjfia, 6 io~TLv iiri rov KaWi(TTOV 
7rpoa(TT€iov rrjs 7roAea>», /an aei iv avraJ OairTova-i tovs Ik 
TOiv ttoXc/xwv, 7r\rjv ye tovs iv Mapa#a>yi. CKetvwv 8e 
Sia7T/3€7n} Tr]v aperrjv Kp'.vavres olvtov koll rov rdcpov kitoir\o'a.v . 

— Thuc. II. 34. 3. 

6 Kepa/AUKos Scleral vto. 

hr)p.6cria yap ivx Ta<f>u)p.ev, 

<prjdop,ev irpos tovs arparrjyovs 

p,aypp.£vu> rols iroXep.ioio'Lv 

arroOaveZv iv Opveat?. 

— Ar. Av. ^395-399- 

The Ceramicus was the chief though not the only 
burial-place of ancient Athens ; but its name is so famil- 
iar to us in this connection, both from ancient literature 
and from modern impressions of the town, that it may 
be taken as typical of a Greek cemetery. The term 
" Ceramicus " had indeed no such exclusive application in 
ancient times. It was the old potters' field that pro- 
vided the clay for the unrivalled Athenian vases ; and 
it was divided into the inner Ceramicus, which in later 
times came to be synonymous with the Agora, and the 
outer Ceramicus, the most beautiful suburb of the city, 
stretching along the roads to the Academy and Eleusis. 

1 For a fuller treatment of the whole subject, see P. Gardner, Sculptured Tombs of 
Hellas, and Conze, Die attischen Grabreliefs. 

455 



456 ANCIENT ATHENS 

From quite early times it was used for burial, as is 
sufficiently attested by the fact that the great majority of 
the Dipylon vases come from its tombs. But graves 
of this early period, as well as of that which succeeded, 
are found in considerable numbers elsewhere in Attica; 
and burial even within the city itself appears not to 
have been prohibited until the time of Solon. For the 
most part, the graves that are scattered over the surface 
of Attica appear in groups. Often they are in low 
mounds or tumuli ; when such a tumulus is investi- 
gated, it sometimes proves to cover a small group of 
tombs, each with a built structure originally showing 
above ground. Then the principal tomb of the whole 
set seems to have been made beside these, and the 
tumulus heaped up over it ; and, finally, many other 
graves, of various later periods, were made in the tumu- 
lus. We are, however, at present mainly concerned 
with the tombs immediately around Athens. These, as 
in the case of other Greek cities, seem to have been 
placed chiefly along the most frequented roads leading 
out of the town, so as to attract the attention of wayfar- 
ers; they naturally were thickest just outside the various 
gates, though, in the case of the most popular road of 
all, the Sacred Way to Eleusis, the foundations of many 
tombs may still be seen even on the ascent to the pass 
of Daphne. In many cases the tombs of families were 
grouped together; thus Miltiades, Cimon, and Thucydi- 
des were all buried just outside the Melitid gates — 
not, probably, where the rock-cut tomb is now shown 



THE CERAMICUS 457 

near the church of St. Demetrius Lombardaris, but 
farther north between the Pnyx and the Observatory. 
Others were buried in appropriate spots; thus Plato's 
tomb was near the Academy, and Themistocles' grave 
was at the entrance of the Great Harbour of the 
Piraeus, of which he had been the first to develop the 
opportunities. "Thy tomb," as Plato, the comic poet, 
says of him, "set in a fitting spot, shall be spoken by all 
the merchants as they pass ; it shall see them sailing out 
and in, and shall be a spectator whenever there is a ship- 
race." On the road from the Piraeus to Athens were the 
tombs, among others, of Socrates, of Euripides, and of 
Menander. But, as was to be expected, it was above all 
outside the Dipylon Gate, in the Ceramicus, that famous 
names impressed the visitor to Athens in ancient times. 
Here were the tombs of all those who had fallen in 
war, and had received a public funeral; the very names 
of the campaigns in which they fell was a record of 
the glory of Athens or of its vicissitudes ; only Mara- 
thon retained the bones of its heroes in its sacred 
soil. In the Ceramicus were the tombs of Solon and 
Clisthenes, of Pericles and Lycurgus, of Phormio and 
Thrasybulus, and Conon, and Chabrias, and many 
others who had guided the Athenian state in prosperity 
or saved it in peril. In fact the mock-heroic boast of 
Peithetaerus, in the battle with the birds, " the Ceramicus 
shall receive us," is evidently the Athenian equivalent 
of "Victory or Westminster Abbey." Not that the 
Ceramicus was exclusively reserved for those who had 



45 8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

fallen in war or distinguished themselves in peace. 
Though it has yielded the great majority of the tomb- 
stones that have survived to our times, few if any of them 
can be identified among those seen by Pausanias or 
mentioned by other writers; an example that might be 
quoted is a plain slab, surmounted by a band of orna- 
ments, and containing the names of the knights who fell 
at Corinth in 394 B.C., among them the young Dexileos, 
whose beautiful private monument is still standing above 
his tomb. But the monument to those who fell at 
Corinth, seen by Pausanias, was probably to the larger 
number of infantry who fell in the same campaign. The 
Ceramicus was, indeed, crowded with graves of all periods 
and classes, often three deep, and only a small portion of 
its cemetery has been excavated. While therefore we 
cannot, like Pausanias, gratify our sentiment by contem- 
plating the actual tombs of the heroes of Athenian his- 
tory, we can, on the other hand, observe a great number 
of monuments that record the feeling or beliefs of the 
ordinary Athenian in the presence of death or bereave- 
ment, and the manner in which he recalled to memory 
his departed relatives or friends. 

The form of the monuments is usually very simple. 
We have already noticed that in earlier times it was 
often a mound, perhaps with a retaining wall around it, 
and sometimes surmounted by a funeral vase. 1 Down to 
the fifth and fourth centuries this form seem to have 
persisted ; but the stela, vase, or other monument, instead 

1 See p. 456. 



THE CERAMICUS 



459 



of being placed on the top of the mound, was more often 
set on a base immediately in front of it ; and, when graves 
were much crowded together, the mound came either to 
be greatly curtailed or to disappear entirely. The monu- 
mental earthen vases, set up outside the tomb in early 
times, continued in occa- 
sional use at least in the 
fifth century ; but now 
frequently marble substi- 
tutes were provided, 
either in the form of the 
great two-handled "lutro- 
phoros," with its symbol- 
ical reference to the un- 
married, 1 or the lecythus, 
which properly belonged 
to the inside of the tomb, 
but often appeared out- 
side it also. Both lutro- 
phoros and lecythus 
often have sculptured 
upon them, in low relief, 
scenes which cannot be 
distinguished in character from those on ordinary stelae. 
The usual form of the tombstone in Athens in the 
fifth and fourth centuries is the stela, or upright slab ; in 
its simplest form it is merely a flat slab of marble, rather 
narrower at the top than at the bottom, usually crowned 

1 See p. 173. 




Marble Lutrophoros and Lecythi on 

Relief. \ 

Boy with hoop and departure of a knight. 



460 ANCIENT ATHENS 

with a palmette or acanthus ornament. Sometimes it 
has two rosettes carved on it side by side, 1 and above or 
below them is incised the name of the deceased, usually 
in beautifully formed and regular letters. Below the 
name a panel of ornamentation comes to be added, 
sometimes in painting, sometimes in low relief ; the sub- 
jects fall under a limited number of types, which must 
be described later. The panel in relief grows until, in 
the best-known form of Attic tombstone, it becomes the 
chief part of the monument. To the usual ornament 
at the top there is added, especially when high relief is 
used, an architectural frame at the sides also, and this 
frame sometimes takes the form of pilasters or semi- 
columns; thus we have developed the type of a shrine 
or miniature temple, within the front of which the 
figures of the relief seem to stand. Though this is 
probably the actual course of development, it is not to 
be supposed that any inferences as to date can be drawn 
from the various forms. The simple ones persisted side 
by side with the more elaborate, and all alike were 
prevalent throughout the period, from the latter part 
of the fifth century to the end of the fourth, to which 
nearly all the sepulchral stelae of Athens must be 
ascribed. 

Attempts were frequently made in Athens to restrict 
not only the ostentation of mourning at funerals but 

1 The origin of these is doubtful. Some have suggested that it is anthropomor- 
phic, and that they represent the breasts of a human figure; but proof of this is 
lacking, and it does not seem very probable. 



THE CERAMICUS 461 

also the sumptuousness of funeral monuments. Deme- 
trius of Phalerum, who controlled the affairs of Athens 
from 317 to 307 B.C., 1 took a special interest in the 
matter and wrote a treatise about it, which is quoted 
by Cicero. 2 Solon, he says, though he made regula- 
tions to restrain mourning, enacted nothing about tombs, 
except to prohibit their violation ; but soon after his 
time, to prevent the sumptuousness of tombs such as may 
be seen in the Ceramicus, it was enacted that " no tomb 
should be built with more elaboration than could be 
effected by ten men in three days." At the same time 
it was prohibited for tombs to be ornamented with stucco 
or for portrait busts to be set up over them ; and these 
regulations, so far as we can judge, were, in part at 
least, observed throughout the finest period, though the 
regulation as to the amount of labour to be expended 
was apparently evaded by buying the stelae or other 
monuments ready made in a sculptor's shop. Deme- 
trius himself passed much more stringent rules; he 
ordered that no monument should be set up except a 
simple mound of earth with a column not more than 
three cubits high, or a flat slab, or a vessel for water. 
We find, accordingly, that from his time to the Roman 
age sepulchral monuments of any artistic value or inter- 
est are practically unknown at Athens. For this reason, 
too, the sculptured sarcophagi, the most characteristic 
tomb of later times, are not found at Athens, except 
in a few exceptional examples of the Roman age. 

1 See p. 481. 2 De legibus, II. 26. 



462 ANCIENT ATHENS 

The great majority of the sculptured tombs that have 
been found in Athens were probably bought ready 
made. Occasionally a well-known sculptor was em- 
ployed, as in the case of the horses and riders made 
by Praxiteles and mentioned by Pausanias ; but these 
were the exception. The ordinary Attic tombstones, 
as we may now see them in the Ceramicus or in 
the National Museum at, Athens, were a commercial 
product, made by men who had no claim to be more 
than artisans ; and we must remember this fact in 
criticising them. Their artistic quality of workman- 
ship does not often rise beyond a certain facility and 
mediocrity, and, with a few notable exceptions, we may 
look in vain to them for any high quality of technique. 
For this reason it is all the more noteworthy that they 
seldom fail to produce, on any who come to them with 
an unprejudiced mind, a satisfying impression. They 
evidently have behind them an artistic tradition and 
instinct that avoids what is false or theatrical, and 
chooses what is fitting for sculptural treatment. But, 
above all, this fact attests the feeling of restraint and 
moderation that characterised, not only the sculptors, 
but also the Athenian public for which they worked; 
for we have here, not the works of art designed to 
satisfy the criticism of a Pericles or a Phidias, but the 
product demanded by the ordinary Athenian citizen. 

The identification of the figures of a group is not 
always obvious, and sometimes it is not easy to say 
which represents the deceased ; in some cases, indeed, 



THE CERAMICUS 463 

the group seems to serve for the commemoration of a 
whole family, and in that case it may be more or less 
of an accident over whom it was first set up. Portraits, 
as such, are extremely rare ; indeed, the prohibition of 
portrait busts shows probably what the general feeling 
was about the matter. The figures are all of them typi- 
cal, not individual. There was therefore no occasion for 
the custom, sometimes suggested, of leaving the heads in 
the rough, to be finished after an order had been given. 
There are no certain examples of such a practice, though 
some unfinished grave reliefs or figures have been found ; 
but, on the other hand, there are some instances in which 
an extra figure seems to have been cut into the side or 
background of a relief to suit the requirements of a cus- 
tomer. Such examples do not, however, invalidate the 
statement that the sculptured tombstones were as a rule 
made to meet a general need, rather than the require- 
ments of particular cases. We need not, therefore, be 
surprised to find that they fall into a few clearly marked 
classes, according to the subject chosen and the way it is 
treated. 

We find, in the first place, a large number of reliefs 
in which the deceased — for such we must presume 
the figure to be — is employed in the ordinary pur- 
suits of daily life. Thus a child has his playthings 
and pet animals, a hoop or a bird; a young man 
carries his oil flask and strigil, and is often repre- 
sented in the performance of some athletic exercise, 
or in preparation for it ; or a youth and even a man 



464 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



of mature age may be represented with his favourite 
animals — dog or hare or bird. A lady is frequently 
represented among her children or at her toilet, or play- 




MONUMENT OF HEGESO. 

ing with the jewels in her casket, often with the help 
of a slave or attendant. In all these cases the imme- 
diate intention of the artist is evidently to represent 



THE CERAMICUS 



465 



the deceased just as he was in life, and enjoying those 
things in which, when alive, he had delighted. There is 
no need to look for any subtle allusion to a continuation 
of the same pursuits beyond the tomb ; except, indeed, for 
the suggestion that the survivors like to have their ab- 
sent friend presented to their imagination still the same 
as he was when he was with them. It is but a slight 
extension of the same 
notion when the allusion 
is not to the general tenor 
of life, but to some con- 
spicuous moment in it — 
it may be to the crown- 
ing exploit that ended in 
death. Thus it is not 
uncommon for one who 
had fallen in battle to be 
represented in full ar- 
mour, whether at rest or 
in action ; the finest ex- 
ample is the monument 
of Dexileos, one of the knights whose name is recorded 
on the stela already mentioned, set up to the memory 
of those who fell at Corinth in 394 B.C. His own monu- 
ment states that he was one of the Five Knights ; he 
is represented on horseback transfixing with his spear 
a prostrate foe. This relief must have been specially 
prepared for a special occasion ; but there is no reason 
to suppose that it represents any particular exploit of 




Tomb Relief. 
Young man with boy and animals. 



2 H 



466 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Dexileos, rather than a type of chivalrous and victo- 
rious youth. 

In all this class of monuments we see no allusion, 
not even a covert one, to death; in the rest there is 



Monument of Dexileos. 



at least a symbolical and sometimes a direct reference 
to it. The next class consists of groups, sometimes 
of only two figures, sometimes of a whole family ; and 
the central motive of these groups is usually supplied 
by two figures that clasp hands, one seated and one 



THE CERAMICUS 



467 



standing, or occasionally both standing. The clasping 
of hands was a more serious and unusual thing with 
the Greeks than it is with us ; it was used in the 
ratification of an oath, in a solemn greeting, but above 
all in the parting before a long absence. Thus Aga- 
memnon, before the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia, 
bidding her a longer and sadder farewell than she 
yet suspects, bids her part from him 

iriKpov cptXrjfia Sovaa Se£iaV r c/W, 
fxiWovcra Saoov 7rarpos airoiKrj<Ta.v ^povov. 

This must be the meaning of the clasping of hands 
upon the tombstones, and it is usually accompanied by 
a certain air of sadness, 
both in expression and 
gesture, that fits the 
occasion. At the same 
time there is no hint of 
anything like mourning, 
either real or conven- 
tional, except, perhaps, in 
the resting the head on 
the hand in a common 
attitude of sorrow. The 
gentle and restrained 
pathos of the scene is 
suited rather to the ficti- 
tious parting on the re- 
lief than to what it signifies. When we remember 
that the Greeks, and especially the women, were by no 




Tomb Relief. 
Family group — parting scene. 



468 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



means naturally given to such restraint over the expres- 
sion of their grief, and that legislation was frequently 
necessary to keep it within bounds, we must recognise 
either that the art of sculpture imposed even on the 
common people a respect for its conditions, or that 

there was a strong feel- 
ing, possibly supported 
by legislation, against 
any unseemly represen- 
tation on tomb reliefs. 1 
However this may be, 
the sculptors have cer- 
tainly observed the spirit 
as well as the letter of 
the restriction. A slight 
modification in the sym- 
bolism, though little 
change in the grouping 
or artistic effect, is intro- 
duced when the scene 
of parting is more distinctly characterised by the addi- 
tion of indications that one of the party is about to 
start on a journey. Thus, in one relief, a slave is 
putting on the sandals of a lady who is evidently on 
the point of departure ; in another, a youth, who is 
bidding farewell to an older man, stands beside his 

1 An almost solitary exception is offered by a relief which represents a lady as 
falling back in death on a couch, surrounded by mourning relatives. (P. Gardner, 
op. cit. Fig. 66.) It is noteworthy that the family is of Plataea, not of Athens. 




Tomb Relief. 
Old man, young athlete, and slave boy. 



THE CERAMICUS 



469 



horse, ready to mount him and ride away. This mean- 
ing is evidently present to the mind of the artist, even 
if, as we shall see later, the horse is present for another 
reason also. 

Mourning figures, as distinct from such as have merely 
some vague expression of grief, are, as we have noticed, 
usually absent from these groups. There are, however, 
a few exceptions, especially in subordinate figures : the 
little slave boy, for example, who sits huddled up at his 
master's feet, upon a stela that has some other peculi- 
arities. The principal figure, an athlete of splendid 
proportions, leans 
against a tomb- 
stone, and both he 
and the older man 
who stands oppo- 
site him have an 
intense expression 
of sadness that 
shows the scene 
is one of parting, 
though the char- 
acteristic gesture 
of the clasping of 
hands is absent. The sculptor of this group has evi- 
dently fallen under the influence of Scopas, the great 
master of the expression of emotion, though his execution 
in detail is hardly on a level with his artistic aspira- 
tions. Such representations of the tomb on a tomb- 




Tomb Relief. 
Young warrior seated on prow of ship. 



470 ANCIENT ATHENS 

stone are not common ; they occur much more frequently 
on the funeral lecythi, which have a similar range of 
subjects. Another example of a figure in an attitude 
of dejection clearly represents the deceased himself. It 
is a curiously simple piece of low relief in two planes: 
we see the dead youth seated on the prow of a ship, 
which shows clearly enough that he was lost at sea ; 
beside him his shield and spear show that he was not 
probably a sailor, but on military service, whether as 
iiTL/3dTr)<; or passenger. Mourning figures, usually female, 
are commoner as free statues set up over the tomb ; 
they are usually represented as seated on a rock or on 
the ground, often with the head resting on the hand. 
Similar figures occur also in the gable-shaped ends of 
the famous sarcophagus of the mourners from Sidon, 1 
which derives its subjects from the Attic sculptured 
tombs. A similar relief has also been found in Athens 
itself, from the metope of a more elaborate sculptured 
monument. 2 

So far the representations we have noticed, whether 
they allude to the departure of the deceased, or only to 
the events or habits of his life, contain no clear reference 
to any belief as to a life beyond the grave, or as to any 
customs connected with that belief. This is the case 
• with the great majority of Attic tombstones of the best 
period. There is, however, another class of monuments, 
common outside Athens, and occasionally found in 
Athens too, especially in )ater times, which clearly repre- 

1 P. Gardner, Sculptured Tombs, Fig. 82. 2 Wolters, Mitth. Ath. XVIII. PI. I. 



THE CERAMICUS 



471 




By permission of Messrs. A. W. Mansell & Sons. 

Tomb Relief. 
Deceased as hero at a banquet ; his wife seated beside couch, attendant and worshipper 

or descendant. Below table, dog. 

sent the deceased as a hero in the technical sense — that 
is to say, as continuing to exist with superhuman power, 
and requiring or demanding gifts and offerings from his 
descendants. We find a reflection of this belief in the 
figures with offerings which frequently appear on the 
lecythi ; representations of the deceased in heroised form, 
seated on a throne and approached by worshippers, are 
practically unknown at Athens, though sometimes, on 
tombstones of Roman date, we see him standing, usually 
beside a horse, and receiving a drink-offering. The only 
representation of the type which we find on Athenian 
reliefs in good period is that known as the funeral ban- 



472 ANCIENT ATHENS 

quet or banquet of a hero. In this the deceased is seen 
reclining on a couch, his wife often seated at his feet, 
while attendants bring him food and drink. At first 
sight one might be inclined to suggest that here we have 
again only a scene from ordinary life, representing the 
social pleasures of the table, just as others represented the 
employments of the gymnasium, of the toilet, or of family 
life. But a comparison with similar reliefs dedicated to 
Asclepius, himself a hero rather than a god, and the pres- 
ence in those reliefs of attendants who are clearly wor- 
shippers bringing offerings, not merely servants waiting 
at their master's table, shows that the type is a religious 
one. Like the enthroned figures of Sparta and elsewhere, 
it must represent the deceased as in enjoyment of the 
offerings, often in kind, which his descendants bring 
to his tomb ; it probably serves both as a monumental 
record of such offerings, and as a symbolical substitute 
for them. 

It is unusual to find on the sculptured tombs any 
more definite or direct allusion than this to the life after 
death. The customary beliefs as to Charon and the 
voyage to the land of Hades have left little trace. Only 
in one tomb, of late date, we see a boatman, who may 
be Charon, approaching a group of figures arranged 
at a funeral banquet. The confusion of thought here 
implied is no greater than we constantly find on the 
lecythi ; but the subject is so unusual that the interpre- 
tation has sometimes been doubted and another mean- 
ing sought for the boat in this scene. 



THE CERAMICUS 473 

Some special symbols are of common occurrence, and 
have given rise to much discussion. The snake is 
familiar enough in connection with tombs, but only 
occurs exceptionally in Athenian tomb reliefs. Figures 
that were often set up over tombs were sphinxes and 
sirens, both of them probably recognised as symbols of 
the mysterious Genius of death, terrible as the riddles 
of the one and the songs of the other. It is not so 
easy to explain the custom of setting up images of 
animals on tombs ; a bull and a hound are among the 
most conspicuous objects in the Ceramicus at the 
present day, and they were not isolated of their kind. 
Animals were sometimes used as a sort of punning or 
"chanting" device on a monument — for example, the 
lion in relief on the tombstone of Leon, 1 or the tongue- 
less lioness on the Acropolis, said to have been set up 
to commemorate the heroism of Leaena, the associate 
of Harmodius and Aristogiton, who refused, under tor- 
ture, to betray her friends. The bull may have had 
some similar meaning ; the dog may probably be inter- 
preted as a watchful guardian of the tomb, as well as 
his master's favourite, though it is possible he may have 
had some symbolical meaning, since he appears on the 
hero reliefs, and is associated with the snake in the 
worship of Asclepius. Many theories have been held 
about the horse upon tombstones. He not only appears 
as part of the subject, but sometimes a horse's head in 
a square frame is inserted in a corner of a relief in such 

1 P. Gardner, op. cit. Fig. 50. 



474 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



if -S 



a manner as to suggest that it has some recognised 
and symbolical significance. It has been suggested, 
for example, that the horse is introduced as the symbol 
of a journey or expedition, and this may be the case 
where his rider stands ready to mount him. But Dexi- 
leos, for example, evidently appears with a horse because 
he fought on horseback as a knight ; 
and the most generally accepted opin- 
ion now' seems to be that the horse 
.usually appears on tombstones as a 
symbol of the rank of the deceased, as 
in the example quoted by Aristotle l of 
a man who rose to the rank of knight- 
hood and set up an image of a horse to 
commemorate the fact. 

The marble vases, whether lecythi 
or lutrophori, that stood over tombs, 
often have reliefs sculptured upon them 
that are similar in character to those 
on the stelae, and belong to almost all 
the classes that have been enumerated ; 
but the earthen lecythi, the vases that 
were painted for the dead, and either 
buried in the grave or placed on the monument, often 
fixed into sockets made to receive them, have a some- 
what different range of subjects, mostly also of funereal 
significance. It is instructive to notice both how far 
these correspond with the subjects on the sculptured 

1 Constitution of Athens, cap. 7. 




Marble 
Lutrophorus 
with Relief. 

Parting scene. 



THE CERAMICUS 475 

tombs, and how far they differ from them in treatment 
as well as subject. These lecythi, with outline or poly- 
chrome designs on a white ground, form a class by 
themselves, and appear to have been exclusively in- 
tended for funereal purposes. Some short account of 
them is desirable here, not only because they explain 
and supplement the tombstones, but also because they 
are a most characteristic product of Attic art, and one 
that can best be studied in Athens. For the immense 
number that has been found both in Athens itself and 
at Eretria, which seems for some reason to have been 
a fashionable burying-place, has filled the Athenian 
National Museum with an unrivalled collection of these 
beautiful vases. 

We find, in the first place, a frequent occurrence of 
scenes from ordinary life ; the subjects, indeed, are often 
not to be distinguished from those on other vases, and 
may sometimes have no special significance. But we 
have already seen on the stelae how common is the repre- 
sentation of the athlete or the hunter at his favourite 
employment, or of ladies at their toilet or occupied with 
their jewels ; and it is natural enough to give the same 
interpretation on the lecythus, and to recognise in these 
pictures typical representations of the life of the deceased. 
The other classes of subjects that are common in sculp- 
tured reliefs are seldom, if ever, found on the lecythi, 
which have, on the other hand, a different repertoire of 
their own in their allusions to death, and this includes 
subjects of three different kinds — actual or ideal repre- 



476 ANCIENT ATHENS 

sentations of the funeral, of subsequent visits to the tomb, 
and of the journey to Hades. From the funeral two 
scenes are commonly selected : the lying in state of the 
deceased on a bed or bier, among mourning relatives, 
who do not always show in their grief the restraint 
which we see on the reliefs ; and the deposition in the 
grave, — sometimes represented as it actually happened, 
but more often in an ideal scene, where two winged genii, 
Sleep and Death, lay in the grave a figure of the de- 
ceased with none of the stiffness of death, but seated or 
recumbent as if asleep. The tomb itself often appears in 
the background. The representation of the visit to the 
tomb is again, in some respects, like what actually hap- 
pened: the relatives of the deceased, especially women, 
bring sashes and wreaths and other offerings in broad, 
flat baskets to decorate the tomb ; but often the deceased 
himself appears, a figure quite like the rest, seated or 
standing on the steps of the tomb to receive what is 
brought, or to welcome the visit of his friends. In this 
case we may perhaps recognise an allusion to the repre- 
sentation of the deceased that existed upon his stela; 
but the vase painter, rather than copy another work of 
art, prefers to give his own direct version of the presence 
of the deceased. Sometimes, however, the deceased is 
represented as actually painted or sculptured upon the 
tomb. Yet another form in which he may appear in 
these scenes on the vases is that of an euScoXov, a little 
butterfly-like figure of human form with wings. In the 
journey to Hades, Charon and his boat are constant fea- 



THE CERAMICUS 477 

tures, and he is evidently a realistic study in many cases 
from a rustic ferryman; sometimes the marshy bank of 
the Styx is represented by a group of rushes ; and often 
Hermes appears as the guide and herald of the dead. 
The deceased often carries with him some of his funeral 
gifts to the ferry-boat; and sometimes, by a curious con- 
fusion of place, Charon and his skiff actually approach 
the tomb itself to fetch its occupant. 

From the lecythi and the sculptured tombs together, 
we may gather some notion of how the Greeks thought 
of death and of the life beyond it. It is evident that 
there was some confusion, both in belief and in ritual, 
between various inconsistent views. The most preva- 
lent notion seems to be of the continued existence of the 
dead in the neighbourhood of the place where his body 
lies, of his presence to receive the visits of his relatives 
and their offerings, of his appearing to them as he had 
been in life, or sometimes hovering as a diminutive 
ghost about them and their gifts. It is impossible not 
to recall in this connection the description of Plato in 
the Phczdo, how those souls that had allowed them- 
selves to be too much mixed up and contaminated with 
the body in their earthly life, found it impossible to free 
themselves from it entirely at death, but still hovered 
about the cemeteries. Side by side with this conception 
of the actual presence of the deceased at his tomb, and 
sometimes inextricably confused with it, we find some 
allusions to the myth of Charon, but not to any other 
incidents of the life beyond the grave. The myths of 



478 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Hades, of judgment and punishment or reward, that we 
read of in poets and philosophers, find no reflection in the 
popular feeling, so far as it is recorded for us by these 
monuments. In fact, -it is not only for the beliefs of the 
people about death, but also for the representation of their 
life, that the sculptured tombs of the Athenians are valu- 
able to us ; for they supplement and correct in a remark- 
able way the impressions given by literature. Especially 
notable are the prominence of women on the tombs 
and the constant representations of husband and wife, of 
parents and children, in the intimacy of family life. 
This is a side of the Greeks that we might well overlook 
but for these monuments ; yet we can hardly believe that 
what they turned to in moments of sorrow and there- 
fore of the deepest feeling had not also, though not super- 
ficially conspicuous, a real influence on their life and 
character. 



CHAPTER XII 

ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 

The Athenian buildings with which we have hitherto 
been concerned were all of them the work of the Athe- 
nian people, the spontaneous product of their needs or 
aspirations ; and even if some of them, especially those 
of the Periclean age, owed their origin to a single man, 
that man was himself the most representative of Athe- 
nians, and was only directing the tendency toward 
artistic expression that already existed among his fellow- 
citizens. In the Hellenistic age it is otherwise ; the 
names alone of many of the chief buildings suffice to 
record that they were due to foreign munificence, not to 
the prosperity of the city or the public spirit of its in- 
habitants. The place that had been won for Athens in 
the estimation of the world by her poets, her philoso- 
phers, and her artists sufficed to secure, in most cases, 
the preservation of her monuments ; but she had already 
begun to live on the reputation of her past rather than 
on her actual power and resources. The virtue had 
gone out of Greece to follow the conquests of Alexander 
to the East, and the centre of living art and literature 
was shifted to Alexandria, to Antioch, or to Pergamum. 

479 



4 8o ANCIENT ATHENS 

Athens, however, had conferred such inestimable boons 
on the intellectual and artistic world that she was still 
recognised as consecrated by tradition to be the metro- 
polis of Hellenism; and princes to whom Hellenism and 
civilisation were synonymous vied with one another in 
decorating the city with costly and magnificent edifices. 
In such buildings we cannot expect to find either the ar- 
tistic perfection or the associations that belong to the 
products of an earlier age; but they are, some of them, 
so conspicuous even to the present day that no account 
of ancient Athens can ignore them. 

In the earlier part of the Hellenistic age the prestige 
of Athens availed her to prevent destruction, as well as 
to cause her enrichment by new gifts. Alexander, in 
spite of her opposition to him, always treated her with 
respect ; he is said to have sent back to Athens the 
statues of the Tyrannicides which Xerxes had taken 
away to Persia, and he dedicated on the Acropolis vari- 
ous spoils from the enemy who, a century and a half 
before his time, had destroyed its temples. Alexander 
posed as the champion of Greece and Europe in the 
hereditary feud with barbarism and with Asia, a feud 
that was traced back to the Trojan War or even earlier; 
and it is interesting to notice that by his time, and no 
doubt partly owing to his influence and that of his 
teacher Aristotle, Athens had acquired beyond dispute 
that preeminence among Hellenic cities which she had 
in vain striven to win for herself by diplomatic skill or 
by naval and military prowess. The example set by 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 481 

Alexander was followed by his successors ; and conse- 
quently, though Athens played no very glorious part in 
the years of strife and intrigue that followed his death, 
her buildings and monuments do not seem to have suf- 
fered very seriously from her vicissitudes. 

A monument that was perhaps the last spontaneous 
product of democratic Athens, is also, curiously enough, 
the first recorded example of a form of architecture 
especially associated with imperial pride ; this is a tri- 
umphal arch set up in the Agora after a small victory 
over the forces of Cassander in 318 B.C. It is to his 
credit that he left it standing when Athens was soon 
after at his mercy ; and it was still to be seen in the time 
of Pausanias. We have already noticed that Demetrius 
of Phalerum, the philosopher and orator who adminis- 
tered the affairs of Athens, under the protection of 
Cassander, from 317 to 307 B.C., checked the sumptuous 
decoration of tombs. His great architectural work was 
the addition of a colossal portico to the great Hall of the 
Mysteries at Eleusis ; this portico was designed by 
the architect Philo, w T ho had also been employed by 
Lycurgus. In Athens, however, Demetrius of Phalerum 
does not seem to have left much trace of his activity, 
except in an incredible number of honorary statues of 
himself, three hundred and sixty set up in three hundred 
days ; but this mushroom growth was destroyed even 
more quickly than it arose ; only one is said to have 
been left on the Acropolis after his fall. About this 
time the most precious monuments of Athens seem to 
2 1 



482 ANCIENT ATHENS 

have run the most serious danger of destruction ; for the 
tyrant Lachares is said to have actually stripped the gold 
from the statue of Athena Parthenos. Either his depre- 
dations have been exaggerated, or he was made to give up 
his spoils before he had destroyed them ; for the statue 
still continued, centuries after, to be one of the chief 
sights of Athens. The so-called restoration of freedom 
to Athens by Demetrius Poliorcetes might have been 
accompanied by still worse results. But although the 
Athenians consented to the grossest sacrilege when they 
lodged their liberator in the opisthodomus of the Parthe- 
non, it is not recorded that this led to any damage to the 
building or its contents. This period is interesting for 
the associations which were confirming still more the 
position of Athens in the ancient world, as Zeno taught 
in the Painted Stoa that gave its name to his school, 
and Epicurus in his garden in Melite — not, as Plato 
and Aristotle, in suburban pleasances. At this time, too, 
we have the first direct record of the population of the 
city; Demetrius of Phalerum took a census, and found 
that Athens contained 21,000 citizens, 10,000 metics or 
aliens, and 400,000 slaves. These figures seem to imply 
a free population of 100,000 or more; but the number of 
the slaves, which was probably far more difficult to ascer- 
tain, is thought by cautious investigators to be greatly 
exaggerated. 

The first foreign prince to contribute in a direct 
way to the decoration of the town of Athens was 
Ptolemy, probably Philadelphus, who reigned from 285 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 483 

to 247 b.c. He built a great gymnasium near the Agora, 
which must have been situated somewhere in the region 
behind the stoa of Attalus ; this gymnasium was not 
only in all probability the most extensive and sump- 
tuous building of its kind in the town, but it also 
contained a library. In both respects Ptolemy was 
conferring on Athens the same advantages of luxury 
and of culture that he had given to his own capital, 
Alexandria. Another gymnasium, founded about the 
same time in connection with a heroum dedicated to 
the Macedonian general Diogenes, and therefore called 
the Diogeneion, came to be used as the centre of the 
ephebic system in Athens, and so has left many in- 
scriptions, though there are but scanty traces of its 
plan. It may almost claim, in a sense, to have been for 
a time the university of Athens, since it was there that 
the ephebi, the body of the Athenian youths under 
military and intellectual training, received their lectures 
on literature and geometry and rhetoric and music ; 
and it was there that they set up the numerous hono- 
rary portraits of their successive Koa-firjTal or censors, 
which we may still see in the Athenian Museum. 

Another great dynasty of princes who allowed Athens, 
as the metropolis of Hellenic culture, to share the mag- 
nificence which they lavished on their own capital, was 
that of the kings of Pergamum. Attalus I. visited 
Athens in 201 B.C., and it may well have been on this 
occasion that he dedicated on the Acropolis a series 
of statues to commemorate his victories over the 



4 8 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Gauls in Asia Minor. These were set up on the 
wall of the Acropolis just above the Theatre of Dio- 
nysus, and consisted of a number of bronze figures, 
about half life-size. Marble copies of them have been 
found scattered through the museums of Europe ; and 
we can identify in them examples of all the four subjects 
mentioned by Pausanias — the battles of the Gods and 
Giants, of the Athenians and Amazons, of the Athenians 
and the Persians at Marathon, and of Attalus and his 
people against the Gauls in Mysia. If, on the one hand, 
Attalus compared his own exploits with the prowess 
of the Athenians at Marathon, and with the mythical 
contests in which they were fond of rinding an antitype 
for the Persian Wars, on the other hand he flattered 
their vanity by an indirect reference to their holding 
Thermopylae in 278 b.c, against the same terrible 
enemies whom he defeated in Asia. His son, Eumenes, 
who continued his father's work both in the subjugation 
of the Gauls and the increase of the magnificence of 
Pergamum, surpassed him also in benefactions to the 
Athenians ; for he built the great portico that is known 
by his name, and that stretches from the Theatre of 
Dionysus to the Odeum of Herodes. This portico was 
especially designed to shelter the spectators in the Theatre 
in case of a sudden shower; but it also gave a splendid 
finish to the south side of the Acropolis. The most 
conspicuous part of it now, the row of arches that sup- 
ported the terrace behind, was invisible when the building 
was complete; it was faced with a wall of squared 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 485 

masonry, which still exists in places ; this wall was of 
Piraic limestone in its upper portion, but had on its 
lower part a dado of Hymettian marble. In front of it 
was a double portico of splendid proportions ; only its 
foundation and a few fragments of its columns, which 
have recently been recovered, remain to testify to its 











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Stoa of Attalus. 



original character ; at the west end it has been to some 
extent modified when the adjoining Odeum was built. 

Attalus II., the successor of Eumenes, also presented 
to the Athenians a magnificent stoa, of which the remains 
may still be seen ; it is standing to a considerable height 
at the two ends, and owes its preservation to having been 
partly built into one of the late walls of Athens. This 



486 ANCIENT ATHENS 

stoa was close to the Agora, and enclosed on one side 
either the original open space or a later extension of it. 
The ground plan of the building may be made out to 
some extent from the view of it that is here given. It 
consisted of a great portico of two stories, open toward 
the Agora, and supported by double rows of columns ; 
at either end was an exedra or recess, with marble seats, 
and at the back was a row of small square chambers, 
which must have served a's shops or offices. The w r hole 
was probably, from the point of view of luxury and 
convenience, a great advance on anything that had 
existed in Athens before. An inscription in large letters 
on the architrave, still partially preserved on the spot, 
records its dedication by Attalus. 

Another Asiatic monarch, Antiochus Epiphanes, of 
Syria, conceived an even more ambitious project for the 
decoration of Athens. This was the completion of the 
colossal temple of the Olympian Zeus, which had 
remained unfinished since the time of Pisistratus, all 
through the most glorious days of Athens. It was to 
the project of Antiochus, which was interrupted by his 
death in 164 B.C., that Livy applies the distinguished 
praise, " unum in terris inchoatum pro magnitudine dei." 
Although the foundations partly belong to the time of 
Pisistratus, and the completion of the building, including 
possibly some of what we now see, dates from the time 
of Hadrian, it is to Antiochus that we must give credit 
for the design of this colossal temple, which was one of 
the most famous in the ancient world. Curiously enough, 





THE OLYMPIEUM FROM THE SOUTH-EAST. 
Acropolis behind. 









.T2A3-HTU02 3HT M05H MU3ISMYJ0 
•bnirtad EfloqoioA 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 487 



the architect employed by this Oriental king for a temple 
in Athens was a Roman citizen, Cossutius, who, to judge 
from the way in which his nationality is dwelt on by 
Vitruvius, was probably not, like most artists with Roman 
names, of Greek origin. Vitruvius' description of the 
proportions and architectural character of the temple 
seems to imply that it had at least advanced so far toward 
completion that it was possible, not only for an architect, 
but for the public gener- 
ally to appreciate it. The 
first part of a temple 
to be erected was the 
columns ; and it seems 
probable that a consider- 
able part of the great 
double colonnade of Co-. 
rinthian columns that 
surrounded the temple 
was completed before 
the work was stopped by 
Antiochus' death. Sulla 
is said to have carried 
off some of the columns to place them in the temple 
of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome ; these may either have 
been unfinished ones prepared for the Athenian temple, 
or, possibly, some of those that had already been erected. 
The temple had two rows of columns all round it, 
and eight columns in its front, so that the temple 
within was tetrastyle, and the cella must have been 




Capital of Column in Olympieum. 



/ 



4 88 ANCIENT ATHENS 

rather long and narrow; it was also open to the sky, 
and is quoted by Vitruvius as an example of the hypae- 
thral temple — a description which, being supposed to 
apply to the Parthenon, has aroused much confusion. 1 
The columns show the Corinthian order in its full 
development, and are, perhaps, the finest extant example 
of that order ; they are fifty-six feet seven inches high. 
The style of the extant columns certainly has noth- 
ing in it to preclude their' attribution to the Hellenistic 
age. Another abortive scheme for the completion of 
the temple was proposed in the time of Augustus, 
when it was suggested that all the subject kings and 
peoples of the empire should join in the work, and 
dedicate it to the Genius of the Emperor. It was, 
however, reserved for Hadrian to complete what had 
so often been begun and left unfinished. We can- 
not tell exactly how much of the structure was left 
for him to build ; but there is no reason to suppose he 
modified in any essential features the plan of Cossutius. 
In the temple he placed a colossal gold and ivory statue 
which was probably a more or less free copy of the great 
statue by Phidias at Olympia. 

Another monument that is, owing to its excellent 
preservation, a conspicuous feature of modern Athens, 
was given to the town by a private individual ; this is 
the Tower of the Winds, as it is commonly called, or 
the Horologium, built by Andronicus of Cyrrhus in 
Syria. The building consists of an octagonal tower, 

1 See Dorpfeld, Ath. Mitth. XVI. 334. 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 489 

with one of the eight winds carved in relief near the 
top of each side ; each wind is represented by a symbol- 
ical figure with appropriate attributes, and also has his 
name inscribed. Thus Boreas, the North Wind, is fully 
clad, rugged and bearded, and blows through a shell 
like a Triton ; Notus, the rainy South Wind, is soft and 
youthful, and holds an inverted pitcher ; Zephyr, almost 
nude, bears a garment full of flowers, and Lips, the 
South-west Wind, carries the aplustre (or stern-ornament) 
of a ship, either as a trophy of his violence or because 
he blows the ships home to Athens up the Saronic 
Gulf. The allegory is artificial, but readily under- 
stood ; at the same time one feels that these wind 
gods are mere decorative impersonations, no longer 
divinities in whose existence the artist pretends to 
believe, and the design, though not without merit, is 
rather clumsy, especially in the .legs of the floating 
figures. Vitruvius has left us a description of the 
building, from which we know that in his time it was 
surmounted by a bronze Triton, who served as a 
weathercock, and turned with the wind so as to point 
with his staff to the figure representing the quarter 
from which it was blowing. On each of the sides that 
caught the sun, lines were incised, to make it serve as 
a sundial, by the aid of a projecting bar of metal. This 
was not, however, the only appliance that justified the 
name of Horologium, sometimes given to the building, 
and served to indicate the time. There appears to have 
been a water-clock also, and there are curious bowls and 



49° 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



troughs cut in the floor, and connected with a small 
cistern at the back. It is not known exactly how these 
worked, but there must probably have been some indi- 




TOWER OF THE WlNDS. 
The three winds visible are Boreas (north), Sciron (north-west), and Zephyr (west). 

cator attached to tell the time, as shown by the amount 
of water in the channels. The interior of the building 
was made readily accessible by two doors, each faced 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 491 

with a small Corinthian portico. The Tower of the 
Winds is interesting, not only for its unique plan and 
purpose, but also for its position. It is situated to the 
north of the Acropolis, and at some considerable dis- 
tance from what we have noticed as the probable site 
of the Agora. Yet such a building, which served the 
purpose of a clock-tower in the market-place of a modern 
town, must have been placed in the most convenient 
position, close to the centre of commerce and social life. 
It therefore offers the earliest evidence that the market- 
place of Roman times was already, when it was built, 
shifting toward the east ; we shall notice later that 
important commercial buildings were soon after erected 
around it in this region. Its exact date is not recorded, 
though we have a limit provided by its mention in the 
writings of Varro and Vitruvius ; it must belong either 
to the second century b.c. or the earlier part of the first. 
By rashly taking the part of Mithridates the Great in 
his struggle with Rome, Athens drew upon herself, in 
86 b.c, the summary vengeance of Sulla, who seems to 
have treated her with less respect than any previous 
conqueror. We have already noticed his destruction of 
the wall between the Sacred and Piraic gates. The 
mound which he threw up against the city in this region 
has, incidentally, proved a benefit to us, for underneath 
it were buried intact many of the interesting tombstones 
of the Ceramicus. He does not seem, however, to have 
actually destroyed any buildings, though he carried off 
some columns from the Olympieum ; he is only indi- 



492 ANCIENT ATHENS 

rectly responsible for the destruction of the Odeum of 
Pericles, situated beside the Theatre. This was con- 
structed mostly of wood, the spars of the Persian ships ; 
and the tyrant Aristion, when he took refuge in the 
Acropolis, burnt it down, lest the wood should prove 
serviceable to Sulla in attacking the citadel. It is char- 
acteristic of the time that the vandalism of an Athenian 
should have been repaired' by a barbarian ; King Ario- 
barzanes of Cappadocia undertook to rebuild the Odeum, 
and he must have succeeded well enough for it still to be 
shown to visitors to Athens in succeeding centuries. 

So far all the foreign contributors to the architectural 
splendour of Athens have come from the East ; they 
turned to Athens as the home of the art and civilisa- 
tion to which the Hellenistic world owed its character. 
When we reach the epoch of Roman dominion, we find 
Hellenism again prevalent among the cultured classes of 
the West no less than in the East, though in this case it 
was not the system imposed by Greek conquerors upon 
their subjects, but the reaction of the literature and art 
of the conquered people upon the barbarian victor. The 
result to Athens was the same; the debt due to her 
artistic and intellectual preeminence in the ancient world 
was again acknowledged by the erection of temples, por- 
ticoes, libraries, and other buildings by the munificence of 
Roman magistrates and emperors. The earliest example 
in Attica of which any remains are left is offered by the 
smaller Propylaea at Eleusis, built by Appius Claudius 
Pulcher in 48 b.c, a gift that Cicero himself thought of 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 493 

emulating ; his words to his friend Atticus on the sub- 
ject offer an excellent illustration of the feeling of 
Romans of his class about the matter ; he says : 1 " I hear 
Appius is building a irporrvkov at Eleusis ; would it be 
out of the way for me too to build one at the Academy ? 
You will say ' yes ' ; then write to me and say so. I have 
a great affection for Athens itself ; I should like to leave 
some memorial of it, and hate the custom of inscribing 
one's own name on statues set up by another." 

It was especially under the emperors that Athens came 
to benefit by this feeling. We have already noticed that 
the completion of the Olympieum had suggested itself 
to the subject princes and peoples as an acceptable com- 
pliment to Augustus ; and although this project came to 
nothing, other important contributions to the convenience 
of the Athenians date from his reign. The most impor- 
tant of these is a great market hall, or square surrounded 
with porticoes, of which a portion has recently been 
unearthed near the Tower of the Winds ; the great gate- 
way leading into it from the side of the older Agora has 
long been among the conspicuous monuments of Athens ; 
it consists of a row of four Doric columns, with a wider 
intercolumniation in the middle, and on its architrave is 
an inscription recording its erection from moneys given 
by Julius Caesar and by Augustus ; it was dedicated to 
Athena Archegetis. Upon the top of the pediment was 
set a statue of Lucius Caesar, who was adopted by 
Augustus in 1 2 B.C., and was regarded as successor to the 

1 Ep. ad Att. VI. 1. 



494 



ANCIENT ATHENS 




Gate of Roman Market. 
Dedicated to Athena Archesretis, 



empire till his death, thirteen years later. At the other 
side of the square, near the Tower of the Winds, are the 
foundations of a second entrance. An inscription just 
within the Gate of Athena Archegetis deals with the 
regulations of the oil market, and hence it is supposed 
that the building was mainly devoted to the traffic in this, 
perhaps the most important of the natural products of 
Athens. However this may be, the spread of great 
market halls in this direction confirms the impression 
given by the position chosen for the Tower of the Winds, 
that the commercial Aoora at Athens had moved in 
Roman times some distance to the east of its site in 
Greek times. Yet another building, of which some 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 495 

arches are still standing, close to the Tower of the Winds, 
bears a dedication to Athena Archegetis and the mem- 
bers of the imperial family. 

Another dedication, to Rome and Augustus, is still 
to be seen in the most conspicuous position on the 
Acropolis, in the open space in front of the Parthenon. 
It took the form of a small circular temple of the Ionic 
order ; the forms of the columns and of the architectural 
decoration were closely modelled upon the Erechtheum, 
but they entirely lack the distinction of fine workman- 
ship that gives to those forms their proper value. The 
inscription, which is carved in large letters upon the 
architrave, records that the temple was dedicated to 
Rome and Augustus by the people of Athens. We must 
therefore attribute to the degenerate Athenians, and not 
to any outside influence, the lack of taste w T hich allowed 
them to set, in a place that had for so long a time been 
kept clear so as to allow the Parthenon to have its 
full effect, a temple which had nothing, either in its 
associations or its artistic character, to justify its position. 
Another monument of the same age which must also be 
reckoned as a disfigurement rather than an ornament 
to the Acropolis, is the great basis for the equestrian 
statue of Agrippa, which still stands in such a position 
as to mar the effect of the Propylasa and the general 
aspect of the entrance of the Acropolis. The people 
of Athens, who were again responsible, had indeed 
£Ood reason to honour Agrippa, both for his services 
in general and for the theatre which he had built them 



496 ANCIENT ATHENS 

in the Ceramicus. This theatre was a building intended 
for lectures; there is no authority for the name Odeum, 
sometimes given to it, nor have we any certain evidence 
as to its position ; it was sometimes briefly called the 
Agrippeum. On the side of the Propylaea opposite 
the pedestal of Agrippa there is an inscription to 
Germanicus, cut on a basis that carried also its origi- 
nal inscription, 1 recording a dedication by the knights 
of Athens, sometime before the middle of the fifth 
century, of a statue from the spoils of a victory. It is 
probable that we have here only an example of the 
practice deprecated by Cicero, of putting new inscrip- 
tions on old monuments ; for Pausanias saw the origi- 
nal statue, and its fellow on the other side of the 
Propylaea, when he visited Athens, and mistook them, 
owing to a name mentioned in the inscription, for those 
of the sons of Xenophon. 

The reigns of the succeeding emperors have not left 
much trace upon Athens. Even the visit of Nero does 
not seem to have led to any additions, beyond the new 
stage which we have noticed in the Theatre; he also 
dedicated the shields of which the traces may still be 
seen on the architrave of the Parthenon. 2 

A monument which, owing to its position and the 
accident of its preservation, is one of the first to attract 
the attention of a visitor to Athens at the present day, 

1 There is some confusion about this inscription, which was twice cut, once with 
the block inverted; but it must refer to the original erection of the statue. 

2 This fact has been discovered and the inscription deciphered by Mr. Andrews, 
in 1896. 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 497 

is that of Philopappus, which crowns the Museum Hill. 
His full name was C. Julius Antiochus Philopappus, 
and he was the descendant of a dynasty of kings of 
Commagene, who had also held various Roman magis- 




MONUMENT OF PHILOPAPPUS. 



tracies. The monument was set up between 114 and 
116 a.d. It consists of a lofty structure, with a concave 
curve on the side facing the Acropolis. Its lower part 
is taken up by a frieze, representing the deceased in a 



2 K 



49 8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

chariot with his insignia of office; above these were 
three niches, in which were statues, now only partially 
preserved, of Philopappus himself, of his grandfather, 
from whom he took his name, the last king of the 
dynasty, and of Seleucus Nicator, its founder. The 
position of the monument is chiefly famous for its 
magnificent view of the Acropolis. 

The latest epoch in which ancient Athens received 
a considerable addition to its public buildings was that 
of Hadrian. While his imperial munificence beautified 
a great number of the chief cities of the empire, Athens 
was especially selected for his attention, as was only to 
be expected both from its traditions and from the Em- 
peror's predilections. We have already noticed that he 
at last completed the colossal temple of the Olympian 
Zeus ; but this was only a portion of a more compre- 
hensive scheme, which is sufficiently attested by the in- 
scriptions which he caused to be incised on the two 
sides of the arch which is still standing close to the 
great temple. On the one side, facing the old town, 
is the line : — 

at8' etor' 'AOrjvai, ©rycrcws 17 irpiv ttoAis, 

on the other : — 

aid tier 'A&ptavov, kov-^l ©Tytrecos 7roAis. 

By this somewhat pompous claim, he deliberately places 
his benefits to Athens on the same footing as those 
of Theseus, who first formed one great city out of 
the scattered townships of Attica, and alludes to his 
foundation of Novae Athenae, a considerable exten- 



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ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 499 

sion of the town beyond the limits of the old wall, 
in the region now occupied by the Constitution Square 
{^vvray^a) and the royal palace and garden. The 
precinct of the Olympieum was filled with statues of 
the Emperor, as was also the Theatre, where we have 
already noticed the alterations made in his honour. 
Other buildings erected by Hadrian in Athens were on 




West Exd of Library of Hadrian. 



a correspondingly magnificent scale. One of these, of 
which considerable remains may still be seen, is prob- 
ably the building described by Pausanias as decorated 
with a hundred columns of Phrygian marble, and with 
a similar decoration on the walls of the porticoes that 
surrounded it, with chambers finished with gold and 
alabaster, with paintings and with statues. This build- 
ing surrounded a great court in which there was origi- 
nally a basin of water; later this was filled up, and 



5°° 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



curved porticoes were erected above its place ; these 
were later built into a church, but parts of their mosaic 
pavements still remain. There were exedrae, curved 
and oblong, in addition to the chambers ; and in the 
chambers was stored a fine library. At each end 




Odeum of Regilla. 
Built by Herodes Atticus; outside. ' 

this magnificent building, of which we have no special 
name recorded, unless it was called the Library of Ha- 
drian, 1 was terminated by a wall decorated outside by en- 
gaged columns, which are still to some extent preserved. 
Other buildings constructed by Hadrian in Athens were 
a gymnasium with a hundred columns of Libyan marble, 

1 The common name, Stoa of Hadrian, rests on no ancient authority. 




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ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 503 

temples of Hera and of Zeus Panhellenius, and a pan- 
theon or temple of all the gods, in which he set up 
a record of his various benefactions to the cities of his 
empire, partly quoted by Pausanias. Near the Tower 
of the Winds was also the Agoranomion, or official 
market hall, belonging to the same age. 

The munificence of the Emperor to Athens was emu- 
lated by one of its citizens, who must be recorded as the 
last great Athenian who made a material contribution to 
the beauty of his native city. This was Herodes Atticus, 
a philosopher and rhetorician who held many public 
offices in Athens, and contributed to keep up the splen- 
dour of public worship, especially by his great celebra- 
tion of the Panathenaic games. On this occasion he 
provided the Athenian Stadium with seats of Pentelic 
marble, and is said to have exhausted the old Pentelic 
quarries for the purpose. His greatest work, however, 
w T as the Odeum, which he built in memory of his wife 
Regilla, and which is still in a good state of preserva- 
tion. Its exterior, with arches of Piraic limestone, is a 
most conspicuous feature in any view of the south side 
of the Acropolis. Within, the ranges of seats are well 
preserved, and the position of the low stage, and of the 
steps leading up to it from the orchestra, may readily be 
distinguished. It resembles in most respects the thea- 
tre of Roman type as described by Vitruvius. It was 
the largest and most splendid building of its kind in 
Greece ; indeed, its size was such as to suit it for any 
dramatic purposes, and not only for the musical per- 



5°4 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



formances and contests suggested by its name. It was 
completely covered by a roof of cedar wood, and, con- 
sidering its great size, this must have been no mean 
work of engineering. 

Some remains have been found of other buildings 
which may probably be assigned to about the same 

age — notably 
those of baths, 
some within the 
royal garden, 
some in the gar- 
den near the Zap- 
peion, — both of 
them in Hadri- 
an's new quarter. 
But the enumera- 
tion need be ex- 
tended no farther. 
With the age of 
Hadrian, and the 
visit of Pausanias, 
the picture of ancient Athens which we can bring before 
our eyes may be regarded as complete, so far as it can 
here be presented. 

There is, however, one event that still calls for some 
mention, partly because it is the beginning of the new 
order of things, partly because certain misconceptions 
are common in regard to it. This is the visit of St. 
Paul to Athens. The record, as dven in the Acts 




Roman Baths. 
Near Olympieum ; east end of Acropolis in background. 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 505 

of the Apostles, is as follows: Paul, like Socrates, dis- 
puted in the Agora daily with those that met with him ; 
then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the 
Stoics, wishing to hear what he had to say more 
quietly and at more leisure than was possible in the 
crowded market-place, led him up on to the Are- 
opagus, and there he addressed them. At the end of 
his speech some mocked, and others said, " We will 
hear thee again of this matter." So Paul departed 
from among them. The narrative is perfectly simple 
end intelligible, and there need have been no confu- 
sion about it, but for the unfortunate suggestion that 
he was placed on trial before the court of Areopagus, 
which at that time sat, not on the hill from which it 
takes its name, but in the Stoa Basileios in the Agora. 1 
It is evident that Paul had done nothing to bring 
him within the jurisdiction of the court, nor is there, 
in the account we possess, any hint of his being sum- 
moned to appear before it, tried, or acquitted. The 
name Areopagus is used in its local sense, referring to 
the hill itself, not to the court. There is, therefore, 
no need to disturb the associations connected with a 
spot that is consecrated by the first energy of the new 
religion as well as by some of the most hallowed tra- 
ditions of the old. 

The history of Athens in the concluding age of the 
old religion and philosophy, and of its schools and 

1 This view is maintained by Curtius ; it is carefully refuted by A. F. Findlay in 
the Journal of British School at Athens, 1894-1895. 



5 o6 ANCIENT ATHENS 

intellectual life, offers a fascinating subject for study; 
but we know too little of the manner in which it affected 
the external appearance of the city to have occasion to 
dwell on it here. In addition to the old resorts of 
philosophers, the porticoes of the Agora, and the gar- 
dens of the Academy and the Lyceum, there were doubt- 
less many lecture halls like that built by Agrippa. The 
prestige of Athens had ^probably saved her to a great 
degree from the wholesale spoliation of works of art 
that transferred so many of the finest statues to Rome 
or to Constantinople ; on the official establishment of 
Christianity, many statues, including the gold and ivory 
statue in the Parthenon, probably met a more sum- 
mary fate. We have already noticed the way in 
which many temples, among them the Parthenon, the 
Erechtheum, and the Theseum, were preserved more or 
less intact by being transferred to the service of Christi- 
anity; their further vicissitudes at the hand of Greek 
and Latin, Turk and Frank, only concern us so far as 
they have left their traces on the buildings; the most 
disastrous of all were the bombardment and capture of 
the Acropolis by the Venetians under Morosini in 1687, 
and by the Turks during the War of Independence in 
1827. 

We do not know how long the circuit of the town 
walls remained as it had been planned by Themistocles, 
with the extension toward the east added by Hadrian. 
The walls were restored in later imperial times. A more 
modern line of fortification, implying that the town had 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 507 

shrunk to comparatively small dimensions, is probably 
to be assigned to the period of the Dukes of Athens ; 
this contributed both to the destruction and to the sub- 
sequent preservation of some ancient buildings, for it 
included in its line the Stoa of Attalus and the north 
wall of the Library of Hadrian. These indications suf- 
fice to show its position ; it enclosed the space immedi- 
ately to the north of the Acropolis, to which its two 
extremities were joined; at the same time, probably, 
an outwork was built to include the scena of the 
Dionysiac Theatre and of the Odeum of Herodes Atti- 
cus, and this outwork has, in the latter case, led to the 
preservation of the building. 

When Athens was selected as the capital of the new 
kingdom of Greece, under Otto of Bavaria, the German 
archaeologist Ross was appointed to the administration of 
antiquities, and had his large and far-seeing projects been 
carried out, Athenian topography would probably have 
offered, at the present day, a more limited field for conjec- 
ture. He wished to remove, as far as possible, all houses 
and traces of modern occupation, not only from the 
Acropolis and its immediate vicinity, but also from what 
was the most central point of the ancient town, to the 
north of the Acropolis and Areopagus. The modern 
town, with its broad, straight streets and principal build- 
ings, the Royal Palace, the University, the Academy, and 
the National Museum, is indeed laid out almost entirely 
on the level ground to the north of the Acropolis 
and on the slope of Lycabettus. But the old town of 



5 o8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Turkish times, with its bazaars and narrow, winding 
streets, still clings to the north slope of the Acropolis. 
Something is perhaps gained by this in picturesque 
effect; but the older and more characteristic features of 
this quarter are rapidly disappearing, to make way for 
modern houses, and thus the project of Ross, to clear 
this region entirely, and leave it open after excavation 
as a public park, is now farther than ever from realisa- 
tion. The exact position of the Agora and the build- 
ings round it therefore remains, and seems likely to 
remain for the present, a matter of conjecture. From 
the Acropolis, however, and its immediate surround- 
ings, all the remains of post-classical ages have been 
removed, partly by Ross and partly by his successors, 
with a zeal that has not escaped criticism in some 
instances — notably in the case of the tall Frankish 
tower that stood in front of the temple of Nike, and 
that forms so conspicuous a feature in all views of the 
Acropolis previous to 1875. On the whole, whatever 
errors in detail may have been committed, it is impos- 
sible for any one who compares the present state of 
the Acropolis with that shown in old views of the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, not to admit that 
the changes have been for the better. Then the scanty 
remains of ancient buildings were partly buried beneath 
accumulations of debris, partly hidden or obstructed 
by the mean hovels of modern occupants ; now they 
are cleared so that they can be seen, so far as they 
are still standing, as clearly as they could be seen in 



ATHENS IN HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES 509 

ancient times, and there is nothing to hinder the 
student in tracing out their plans or noting the rela- 
tion and workmanship of their fallen portions. 

Another matter on which considerable difference of 
opinion is possible is the question of restoration. When 
all the portions of an ancient building are lying around its 
foundation, it may seem at first sight a harmless and even 
desirable proceeding to rebuild it again out of its original 
materials. We have, however, seen, in the case of the 
Parthenon, a warning of the impossibility of replacing 
the drums of a Doric column when once they have fallen; 
the fluting of the columns can never regain that perfect 
regularity which it obtained at first by being carried 
out after the column was erected ; and in its absence, the 
result is an unsatisfactory and even revolting appearance, 
as of a galvanised corpse. In the case of the little temple 
of Nike, indeed, the restored building is a distinct gain 
to a distant view of the Acropolis, and reproduces pretty 
nearly the original effect ; though even here the lines of 
the temple, when seen from near, are displeasing to the 
eye. The very perfection of Greek architectural form 
makes its reconstruction from dismembered blocks an 
impossibility. The Erechtheum is perhaps the most ex- 
tensively restored building in Athens ; and here, too, the 
patchy effect is painful, partly, no doubt, owing to the 
extensive use of brick, but partly also to the inherent 
conditions of the task. The policy dictated alike by 
theory and by experience is a simple one — not, as a rule, 
to attempt to replace what has already fallen, but to 



5 io ANCIENT ATHENS 

strengthen, where necessary, whatever is left standing, so 
that no more may fall. This principle is being acted 
upon in an admirable manner in the present restoration 
of the Parthenon, which is being carried out under the 
advice of an international commission. New blocks of 
marble are being used where necessary to replace those 
that are hopelessly shattered, or to support those that are 
in danger of falling ; but these new blocks are placed, as 
far as possible, where they, are invisible or inconspicuous; 
the object is to leave the appearance of the building 
unchanged, while its stability is increased. From the 
point of view of sentiment, as well as of artistic effect,, 
this is the most desirable result; and the student will find 
nothing to deceive him or hinder his investigations. If 
we could hope ever to see the Acropolis as it was seen 
by Pausanias, considerable sacrifices might be tolerated 
for such a consummation. But, since this is impossible,, 
the best policy is to provide that succeeding generations 
may not have to deplore the loss of anything that we can 
now enjoy. 



CHAPTER XIII 

PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 

Se iv rfj o~vyypa<f>rj fiot rrj 'AtOl&i irravopOwpxi cye'vcro, p.rj to. wavra fie 

i<f>e£rjs tol 8e fidXiara a$La /JLvrf/jLrjs i7rc\e£dp.evov dir avrdv dp-qKevat, SrjXtixru) 

Brj Trpb tov \6yov rov es ^TrapTidra^ ' e/1,61 yap i£ a-PXVS yOeXrjaev 6 Aoyo? 

awb 7roXXwv /cat ovk dit(ov a<f>rjyrjaeu)s, <bv eKacrroi irapa. crcpiat Aeyovcriv, 

dwoKpLvaL to. d^ioAoycoraTa. ws ow cv /3e/3ov\evfievos (ovk) 1 Icttlv onov 

vapaBrio-OfxaL. „ TTT 

r ^ ' ^ — Paus. III. xi. i. 

Nothing would help us to realise the appearance of 
the town of Athens, after so many different ages had 
contributed to its beauty or splendour, so well as an imag- 
inary walk among its streets and temples ; and, happily, 
a guide and companion for such a walk offers himself in 
the person of Pausanias, who did in the time of Hadrian 
just what we should wish to do, and has left us a full 
description of what he saw, and of much that was told 
him about it. Before, however, we can trust ourselves 
to his guidance, we must qualify ourselves to appreciate 
his descriptions and avoid the necessity of interruptions 
in the course of his narration, by some preliminary 
inquiries as to his methods in general, and as to the 
particular route or routes which he followed in his 

1 This ovk, which gives another meaning to the sentence, was evidently inserted 
by some scribe who misunderstood the words. Pausanias means, " I shall intention- 
ally omit many things." 

5" 



5* 2 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



ramble through Athens. Both of these questions have 
given rise to much discussion and to many treatises; 
here it will only be possible to give a summary of what 
appear to be the most probable conclusions. 

In the first place, it is clear that Pausanias was a man 
who actually travelled in Greece, and made notes on 
the spot, somewhat indiscriminately, perhaps, especially 
in the earlier portion of ,his work. He worked these 
notes up later into the book which we now possess ; 
and he has told us, in the sentence quoted at the begin- 
ning of this chapter, how he intended from the first to 
select only the more interesting and important things 
that he saw or heard ; and that, in revising the notes for 
his first book on Attica, he had to apply this process of 
selection even more stringently. When writing his book 
he doubtless made use of earlier authors, especially his- 
torians, to amplify the information in his notes ; but both 
the matter and the manner of his descriptions of the 
places he visited preclude the notion that his work was 
that of a mere compiler, who had perhaps seen the places 
he describes, but who depended mainly for his facts upon 
the published works of others. On the contrary, his 
very mistakes are such as are only explicable in the case 
of a man who had made in his travels rough notes, 
which he sometimes misread or misunderstood after- 
wards ; and any one who reads Pausanias upon an ancient 
site, where his words can be confronted with the revela- 
tions of recent excavation, cannot fail to realise that he 
has before him the work of an honest and trustworthy, if 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 513 

somewhat uncritical, traveller, full of an antiquarian 
interest in the records of early religion and art, and 
eager to hear and to chronicle the information that was 
provided in plentiful measure for travellers like him by 
the professional guides and cicerones who were to be 
found on all the chief sites in Greece. The information 
given by such a class of men was probably no more 
trustworthy in those days than it is now ; but, such as it 
was, it is recorded for us by a writer who had before his 
eyes the objects to which it referred. 

The route followed by Pausanias in his walks through 
Athens is clear in the main, but has given rise to almost 
endless dispute and discussion as regards certain parts 
of it. It is necessary, in an attempt at a continuous 
account, to choose in these cases what appears to be 
the most probable course, and to reserve the discussion 
of alternatives for a note at the end of this chapter. 
To prevent any misunderstanding, a clear warning must 
be given here that there is sometimes insufficient evi- 
dence to justify the apparent dogmatism of the text, 
which is merely a matter of convenience. 

Pausanias 1 approached Athens by sea, and landed at 
the Piraeus, of which he gives a short account. He 
first describes the approach to Athens by the Phaleric 
road. Beside this road he saw the roofless and door- 
less walls of a temple of Hera, said to have been burnt 
by the Persians when they captured Athens. This 

1 Throughout this sketch I am indebted to Mr. Frazer's notes, and wish to make 
a general acknowledgment here, in addition to quoting him in special cases. 

2 L 



5 1 4 ANCIENT ATHENS 

• was one of those left in ruins to remind the Athenians 
of the event; in strange contrast with it must have 
been the statue of the goddess made by Alcamenes. 
Just within the Itonian Gate was the monument of 
the Amazon Antiope. Had he continued in this direc- 
tion he would next have come to the Olympieum, and 
so the whole of his route would have been different. 
But he evidently was informed, on reaching the city, 
that the right place to begin a visit to Athens was at 
the Dipylon Gate, which offered the most convenient 
means of access from the harbour town to the centre 
of civic life, and which was accordingly supplied with 
an imposing avenue leading to the Agora. A con- 
sideration that w r ould appeal still more strongly to 
Pausanias was that it was from the Dipylon that the 
sacred procession started at the Panathenaea and on 
other festal occasions. Accordingly he repeated his 
approach to the city, this time by the road from the 
Piraeus, which followed much the same line as the 
modern carriage road. This had the advantage also 
of leading him past some ruins that were closely 
associated with the greatness and the fall of Athens — 
the remains of the Long Walls, restored in Conon's 
time after their destruction at the close of the Pelo- 
ponnesian War, but finally dismantled by Sulla, and no 
longer, under the empire, of any service. As he drew 
near to the city, he saw the tombs, not so numerous 
along this road as on some others, but including among 
them those of Menander and Euripides, the latter a 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 515 

cenotaph, for the poet died at the court of Archelaus 
in Macedonia. 

Pausanias did not enter the city by the Piraic Gate, 
up the hill to the right, but kept to the convenient and 
level road which entered by the Dipylon Gate, joining 
there the Sacred Way from Eleusis. Here he did not 
stop to examine the numerous tombs, knowing that he 
should pass them again later, on leaving the city, but 
passed on at once within the walls. Here the first thing 
he saw on entering was a building of which the walls can 
still in all probability be recognised, the storehouse in 
which were kept the " properties " and appliances for the 
processions that started from this spot. Probably, how- 
ever, he did not enter this hall, for he does not mention 
the paintings or the statues — among them those of 
Socrates and Isocrates — which it contained. Near by 
was a temple of Demeter and Persephone and Iacchus, 
the statues by Praxiteles ; x it was probably a sort of house 
of call for the sacred processions, as they passed out of 
the city from the Agora, to follow the Sacred Way to 
Eleusis, and emphasised the start of the processional 
road outward, just as the storehouse indicated the 
beginning of the festal route into the city. From the 
space just within the Dipylon Gate, as he turned to ap- 
proach the Agora, or, as he calls it, the Ceramicus, 2 he 

1 Those who believe in an elder Praxiteles take this as their chief evidence, be- 
cause of the inscription on the wall in " Attic letters." But the matter is very doubt- 
ful. See Frazer's note, ad loc. 

2 This use of the word is not found in early times. Ceramicus used alone in 
■earlier writers usually means the outer Ceramicus, the cemetery. 



5 i6 ANCIENT ATHENS 

saw before him, sloping gently upward, a broad avenue, 
bordered on each side by porticoes, which extended its 
whole length. 1 Thus Athens, at first sight, must have 
given the impression of a fine and regularly laid out city 
like the Piraeus — an impression soon after to be dis- 
pelled by the narrow and winding streets of its older 
quarters. 

Behind the portico on the left were temples of various 
gods, and a gymnasium, called that of Hermes. There 
was also another building which has more definite asso- 
ciations for us — the house of Pulytion, once proverbial 
for its magnificence. Its former owner was one of the 
accomplices of Alcibiades in the. travesty of the Eleu- 
sinian mysteries that was held partly in this house, 
partly by night in the orchestra of the Dionysiac 
Theatre ; the mutilation of the Hermae was attributed 
to these same revellers ; and Pulytion's house was 
dedicated to Dionysus, probably to pacify the god for 
the profanation of his theatre. In it there were set up 
statues of Dionysus Melpomenos, and also a group of 
gods, including Athena the Healer, made and dedicated 
by the sculptor Eubulides. The foundation of a colossal 
group of statuary, with the name of the sculptor Eubu- 
lides, was found in 1837 just to the west of the church 
of the Asomata, and opposite the railway station in the 

1 I see no difficulty in recognising this as the road in Him. Or. III. 12, 6s euOvTevr/s 
re /ecu Xetos KaTafiaLvwv &pwdev crxifet rds eKartpadev 7ra/oarera^as crrods. Surely 
one can ascend a road which slopes gently down from the Agora. No possible posi- 
tion for a gate on this side can be found, whence a road would slope down toward 
the Agora. 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 517 

Hermes Street. It is very probable that the basis is the 
one seen by Pausanias. 1 If so, we know the exact position 
of the house of Pulytion, and may fairly infer that of the 
other buildings that were near it. The head from the 
statue of Athena, found near the basis, and now in 
the Museum at Athens, probably belongs to the group ; 
and, if so, it is of peculiar interest, as representing the 
only statue now extant — apart from architectural sculp- 
tures — which we can identify as having been actually 
seen by Pausanias during his visit to Athens. Adjoin- 
ing the house of Pulytion was another shrine of Dio- 
nysus, with clay figures representing the entertainment 
of the god by King Amphictyon, and a statue of Pega- 
sus of Eleutherae, who was said to have been the first to 
transfer the local cult of his town to Athens. This 
shrine, near the town gate, seems to bear the same 
relation to the annual progress of Dionysus to the 
Academy that the temple of Demeter bears to the 
Eleusinian procession. 

At the other end of the broad avenue leading up from 
the Dipylon Gate, Pausanias entered the Agora, the old 
centre of Athenian civic life, though in his time the com- 
mercial market-place had probably been shifted farther 
to the east. He entered it at its lowest corner, and, as 
seen from this point of view, it appeared as a rather ir- 
regular open space, surrounded by porticoes and temples. 
In front of these and around them were numerous statues 

1 It is true that the inscription does not mention the dedication by Eubulides ; 
but on such large groups it was common to have several inscriptions. 



S i8 ANCIENT ATHENS 

of gods and distinguished men ; and a certain row or 
group of these were especially known as the Hermae, 
being probably of the conventional form of square pillars 
with a head carved at the top — a shape by no means 
restricted to this set, but common throughout Athens; 
in the open space there were some altars and other 
objects, but it was for the most part clear. The Agora 
was in a slight depression ; above it, at the back, rose the 
rock of the Areopagus, and several of its buildings at the 
upper end were situated on the lower slope of the hill. 
On the right arose, behind the buildings of the Agora, 
the low mound of the Market Hill — KoXo^os 'Ayopouos 
— with several temples upon it, among them that which 
we now call the Theseum. On the left side also the 
ground sloped slightly up from the Agora, but any view 
in this direction was completely shut off by the lofty 
Stoa of Attalus. 

Pausanias turned first to the right on entering the 
Agora, and here the building next the entrance was the 
Portico of the King, or Stoa Basileios. This served as 
the office of the titular king, the magistrate who had 
charge of religious matters ; and here too the court of 
Areopagus sat in later times. But these uses were pro- 
vided for by temporary expedients; the building itself 
which he saw merely consisted of a long colonnade, open 
toward the Agora, and with a solid wall or chambers at 
the back ; on the gable at each end was a group of terra- 
cotta figures standing out against the sky — Theseus 
hurling Sciron into the sea, and Eos flying away with 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 519 

the youth Cephalus. In front of the stoa was a row of 
statues, among them that of Conon, who restored the naval 
power of Athens after the close of the Peloponnesian 
War, and his friend Evagoras of Cyprus, one of the most 
heroic champions of Hellenism in the East. Here too, a 
little farther on, was a statue of Zeus Eleutherios, set up 
to commemorate the great delivery of the Greeks from 
the Persians, and behind it another portico, called after 
this statue, and having within it paintings by Euphranor. 
At one end were the twelve gods, at the other an alle- 
gorical group of Theseus and Democracy and Demos or 
the Athenian people, the latter personified by a single 
figure. The back of the' portico was filled by one of the 
most spirited battle pictures of antiquity, the battle of 
Mantinea by the same artist ; the most prominent figures 
were Epaminondas among the Theban cavalry, and 
Gryllus the son of Xenophon among the Athenian 
knights ; possibly the central group was a single combat 
between these two, in which Gryllus was victorious. 

Near by was the temple of Apollo Patrous, with a 
statue also by Euphranor inside, and two other statues 
of Apollo by famous sculptors, Calamis and Leochares, 
standing in front of the temple. 

Pausanias now turned from the western side of the 
Agora and approached a group of buildings situated at 
its upper or southern end, just below the slope of the 
Areopagus. These buildings were all of them connected 
with the official life of Athens. The first of them was 
the Metroum, the temple of the Mother of the Gods, 






5 20 ANCIENT ATHENS 

with a statue of her by Phidias ; from the convenience 
of its position this served as the public record office. 
Close beside it stood the Senate House of the Five 
Hundred; within it Pausanias saw a wooden statue of 
Zeus, God of Counsel, and an image of Demos, the 
People, by Lyson. There were pictures, too ; one by 
Protogenes of the Thesmothetae, or six minor archons, — 
perhaps a portrait group, — and a portrait of Callippus,, 
who led the Athenians to hold Thermopylae against the 
invading Gauls, an exploit which reminded the later 
Athenians of their ancient glory at Marathon. Here,, 
too, was the Tholus, with the Sacred Hearth of the state, 
where the Prytanes sacrificed and where they had their 
official residence — a building which offered a contrast 
to the flat lines of porticoes and temples, since it was 
circular and surmounted by a domelike top. 

Higher up on the slope of the Areopagus were the 
statues of the Eponymi, the heroes after whom the dif- 
ferent tribes of Athens were named, a place of great 
resort and excitement in earlier days, when the lists of 
those drawn for military service or other purposes were 
affixed to the statues. The heroes of the ten tribes estab- 
lished by Clisthenes were Erechtheus, JEgeus, Pandion r 
Leos, Acamas, CEneus, Cecrops, Hippothoon, Ajax, and 
Antiochus, — all legendary kings of Athens or heroes of 
Attic legend. To these were added later three foreign 
benefactors of the Athenian state, Attalus, Ptolemy, and 
Hadrian. Beyond these were other statues, including 
that of Peace carrying the infant Wealth, the well- 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 521 

known work of Cephisodotus, of which copies still 
survive. Here were also portraits of famous men : 
Lycurgus, who did so much for the administration of 
Athens and the completion of its buildings ; Callias, who 
was said to have made the peace with Persia in the fifth 
century on conditions very satisfactory to the Greeks; 
and Demosthenes. Near to the statue of Demosthenes, 
which may have been the original of the statues of the 
orator that have survived, and close under the rocky 
brow of the Areopagus, was the temple of Ares, with 
statues inside it of the god himself by Alcamenes, of 
Aphrodite and of Athena, and of Enyo by the sons of 
Praxiteles. Outside the temple were other statues, 
including one of Pindar, whose praise of Athens gained 
him many honours from the Athenian people. Not far 
from this were the statues of Harmodius and Aristogi- 
ton, placed at the highest corner of the Agora, where the 
steep path ascended to the saddle between Areopagus 
and Acropolis, and so to the Propylaea. Pausanias saw 
here not only the statues made by Critius and Nesiotes 
after the Persian invasion, but also the earlier group by 
Antenor, which Xerxes had carried off to Persia, and 
which Alexander had sent back to stand in its old 
place. These vigorous works of early Attic sculpture 
served at once as a monument of the adopted heroes of 
Athenian democracy, and as a trophy of the final 
triumph of Greece over Persia. The place where they 
stood, which was sometimes called the Orchestra, was 
where the first plays of the Attic drama had been per- 



5 22 ANCIENT ATHENS 

formed by Thespis, before the theatre south of the 
Acropolis was used; it was the highest point of the 
Agora, and when he has reached it, Pausanias breaks off 
his perambulation to continue it elsewhere. 

The next thing which he describes is a group of 
buildings situated outside the Agora — how far off is 
a disputed question. First of these is the Odeum — 
not that built by Pericles 'close to the Theatre of Diony- 
sus, nor that of Herodes Atticus, which was not yet built 
when Pausanias visited Athens, but a different building, 
of which the position is not otherwise recorded. Nor 
have we any evidence to show, in other cases where the 
Odeum is mentioned without further definition, whether 
this Odeum or the Odeum of Pericles is meant ; from 
its name it must have been a theatre-like building 
intended for musical contests and performances. In 
front of it were statues of the Ptolemies and of Pyrrhus, 
and within it a notable statue of Dionysus. Near it 
was the fountain Enneacrunus, or the Nine Spouts, 
so called from its decoration by Pisistratus, the only 
running spring of water in the whole city. Above the 
spring were the temples of Demeter and Kore and of 
Triptolemus, and in front of the temple of Triptolemus 
a seated statue of Epimenides of Crete, who was said 
to have stayed a pestilence at Athens by purifying 
the city when it was polluted by the murder of Cylon. 
We know from other sources that there were two well- 
known precincts of Demeter in Athens — the one just 
below the Acropolis, where the mystae met together be- 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 523 

fore the procession to Eleusis at the Greater Mysteries, 
and another in the suburb of Agrae, just beyond the 
Ilissus, where the Lesser Mysteries were celebrated. 
Pausanias was prevented by a dream from going into 
more details as to the Athenian Eleusinium, else he 
might have explained the relation of the two shrines, 
and have told us, at least, which of the two was the 
one he had come to in his walk round Athens. If he 
had gone far away from the Agora to the fountain 
Enneacrunus in the Ilissus, then the temple of Demeter 
above it must have been the one in Agrae. A little 
farther away was the temple of Eucleia, or Fame, dedi- 
cated in memory of the victory over the Persians at 
Marathon ; an appropriate record of the most glorious 
exploit in Athenian history 1 — a battle so famous that 
^Eschylus chose to record on his tomb that he had 
fought in it, rather than to make any reference to his 
plays. 

Pausanias now returns to the neighbourhood of the 
Agora, and he next mentions the buildings on the low 
hill above it on its west side, behind the Stoa Basileios. 
Here he saw a temple of Hephaestus, with statues of 
Hephaestus and Athena; the goddess was represented 
with sea-blue eyes, like those usually given to Posidon. 
Near this temple was another, dedicated to the Heavenly 
Aphrodite, with a statue by Phidias. 2 He must also have 

1 This is evidently how Pausanias takes it, from his tale of ^schylus. He evi- 
dently knows nothing of an Artemis Eucleia, or association with the Agora. 

2 See p. 395. 



5 24 ANCIENT ATHENS 

seen, on this hill, the temple we now know as the The- 
seum ; but unless it be identified with one of the two 
just mentioned, we must suppose it was among those 
that he either failed to note, or excised in his revision, 
perhaps because it contained nothing that especially in- 
terested him. He then descended again into the Agora, 
and went across it, either to its west or north side, 
passing on his way the triumphal arch set up by the 
Athenians for their victory over Cassander, 1 and the 
bronze statue of Hermes Agoraios. Thus he came to 
the famous Stoa Pcecile (or Painted Stoa), with its 
pictures by Polygnotus and others of mythical and 
real battles, above all that of Marathon, — a building 
full of the most splendid associations of patriotism and 
military prowess, and also among the most frequented in 
the Agora. Here too were some shields dedicated ; and 
some of them, protected by a coat of pitch from the rav- 
ages of time, were said to be those of the Spartans cap- 
tured at Sphacteria. Pausanias does not, however, mention 
another memory, perhaps the most familiar of all attached 
to the Stoa — that of Zeno, and the Stoic School founded 
by his teaching in this portico. In front of the Stoa 
were statues, including that of Solon, and farther on, one 
of Seleucus. In the Agora stood an altar of Pity or of 
Mercy ("EXeos), a curious instance both of sentiment and 
of impersonation, which impressed the later Greeks as it 
has some modern writers. 

Pausanias now left the Agora, omitting, curiously 

1 See p. 481. 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 525 

enough, to mention the fine Stoa of Attalus, and went 
on to see some of the buildings situated in the space to 
the east of it, and to the north of the Acropolis. On 
the level ground was the fine Gymnasium built by 
Ptolemy, with statues in it, one of Ptolemy himself, 
and one of the philosopher Chrysippus. Close to this 
Gymnasium was the Theseum — not the temple we now 
call by that name, but a shrine built by Cimon to con- 
tain the bones of Theseus when he brought them from 
Scyros ; it was decorated by Micon with paintings relat- 
ing to the exploits of the hero. Pausanias then turned 
toward the slope of the Acropolis, and visited the temple 
of the Dioscuri, also decorated with paintings by Micon. 
The precinct of this temple was a convenient place for 
large meetings ; for it was here that Pisistratus had 
called the citizens together, on the occasion when he 
tricked them out of their arms by gathering them into 
the gateway to hear him, while his attendants, left behind 
for the purpose, gathered up their arms and carried 
them up to the neighbouring precinct of Aglauros. 
The precinct of Aglauros, best known as the place 
where the youths of Athens took their oaths on being 
admitted to the ranks of the ephebi, or cadets, was also 
associated with the death of the daughters of Cecrops, 
Aglauros and Herse, who hurled themselves from the 
rocks of the Acropolis, when their sister Pandrosos, 
whose precinct lay just above on the Acropolis, re- 
mained faithful to her trust ; but they opened the box 
intrusted to them by Athena, with the snake-child Erich- 



5 26 ANCIENT ATHENS 

thonius in it, and their presumption was visited with 
madness. This precinct of Aglauros must therefore 
have lain just under the Acropolis rock, below the west- 
ern end of the Erechtheum ; and beside it was the cleft 
by which the Persians climbed up when they captured 
the Acropolis and slew its defenders. A little farther 
to the east, but still close to the Acropolis, was the 
Prytaneum, with the ancient wooden copies of the laws 
of Solon, and statues of Peace and of Hestia, the 
goddess of the common Hearth, in whose honour the 
banquets of the Prytaneum were held ; there, too, were 
statues of Miltiades and Themistocles, both of them, 
according to the practice denounced by Cicero, bearing 
other names inscribed in Roman times. 

From the Prytaneum, which must have been just 
below the Acropolis, about the middle of its north side, 
two ways diverged. The one of these kept close under 
the slope of the hill, and led round to the Theatre of 
Dionysus ; the other took a wide sweep through the 
level ground, first to the north and then to the east, and 
so led to the Olympieum. Pausanias followed first this 
latter road ; it led him, on the way down, past the temple 
of Sarapis, and, not far from it, the place where Theseus 
and Pirithous made their covenant with one another; 
the pledges they gave each other on this occasion seem 
to have been still preserved and shown on this spot ; near 
was a temple of Ilithyia, with some ancient images of the 
goddess, enveloped in drapery down to the feet. It must 
have been a long distance — nearly half a mile — from 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 527 

here to the Olympieum ; but Pausanias mentions noth- 
ing on the way. The colossal temple of the Olympian 
Zeus had recently been completed by Hadrian at the 
time of Pausanias' visit ; he was impressed by the great 
size of the statue ; it seems to have exceeded its original 
at Olympia in this respect, and to have been only sur- 
passed by the colossi at Rhodes and in Rome. There 
were, outside the temple, and in front of its columns, 
bronze statues emblematic of the various colonies of 
Athens, and an immense number of statues of Hadrian, 
some set up by the Athenians, others by different Greek 
cities. There were however within the precinct other 
objects of greater interest and of ancient sanctity. 
Among these were an ancient bronze statue of Zeus, a 
temple of Cronos and Rhea, and a precinct of Olympian 
Ge (Earth). Here was shown a chasm in the earth about 
a cubit wide, down which the waters of Deucalion's flood 
are said to have subsided. Here every year they threw 
in cakes of wheaten meal and honey. In this region, 
too, was the tomb of Deucalion. There was also a 
statue of Isocrates, set up on a column. Passing on 
beyond the temple of the Olympian Zeus, Pausanias saw 
the statue of Apollo Pythius, which must have been in 
the Pythium, a shrine in which several inscriptions, 
including one altar dedicated by the younger Pisistratus 
and mentioned by Thucydides, have actually been found 
close to the Ilissus, below the spring Callirrhoe (or Ennea- 
crunus). In this connection Pausanias mentions also a 
temple of Apollo Delphinius, which may or may not 



5 28 ANCIENT ATHENS 

have been close by. Here, too, perhaps a little higher 
up the river, where there are gardens to the present day, 
was the district called the Gardens, and the temple of 
Aphrodite famous for its statue by Alcamenes. The 
next building mentioned by Pausanias is the sanctuary 
of Heracles, called Cynosarges, with altars of Heracles 
and Hebe, his bride, as well as of his mother, 
Alcmena, and his companion, Iolaus ; the Cynosarges 
is chiefly known for its gymnasium, and also from 
the fact that the Athenians halted there on their 
return from Marathon to protect Athens against 
the attack of the Persians who had gone round by sea. 
It was probably situated on the slope of Lycabettus, not 
far from the place where the British and American 
schools are now built. The position has a commanding 
view over the sea, and therefore would form a suitable 
camp for an army prepared to resist a landing. This 
seems to have been the extreme point reached by Pau- 
sanias to the north-east. He next saw the Lyceum, 
sacred to Apollo, and famous for its gymnasium and 
garden, which were frequented by Aristotle and his peri- 
patetic disciples. Behind this was the tomb of Nisus 
of Megara, whose daughter betrayed him out of love to 
Minos. Pausanias then went down to the valley of the 
Ilissus, which he had already approached before at the 
Pythium, and perhaps also at Enneacrunus ; and he saw 
the place where Boreas was said to have seized Orithyia, 
and the altar of the Ilissian Muses, the very places de- 
scribed by Plato as a setting to the dialogue of the 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 529 

Phczdrus. Here, too, was the place where Codrus fell 
when he sacrificed himself for Athens and went out in 
disguise to be slain by the Spartan invaders ; his shrine, 
associated with those of Neleus and Basile, was a little 
farther along, below the Theatre of Dionysus. Beyond 
the Ilissus was the suburb of Agrae, which we have 
already noticed as connected with the celebration of 
the lesser Mysteries. In Agrae also was the temple of 
Artemis Agrotera, of which the position is now uncer- 
tain, and also another structure that still remains, the 
Panathenaic Stadium, fresh in the time of Pausanias 
from its lavish decoration with Pentelic marble by 
Herodes Atticus. 

Pausanias now retraces his steps to the Prytaneum, 
and takes the other road, close beneath the slope of 
the Acropolis, called that of the Tripods. Here he saw 
many little shrines, of which one only, the monument of 
Lysicrates, has survived until the present day ; these 
shrines were especially built to support the votive tripods 
that had been given for prizes in the choric and dra- 
matic contests. These little monuments were especially 
famous for the works of art they contained, among them 
being the famous Satyr of Praxiteles. Pausanias then 
visited the precinct of Dionysus below the Theatre, 
with its two temples, its gold and ivory statue by 
Alcamenes, and its paintings ; then he went back in the 
direction he had come from, to notice the Odeum of 
Pericles, which, though burnt in the time of Sulla, had 
been restored in its original form, said to have been 
2 M 



53 o ANCIENT ATHENS 

imitated from the tent of Xerxes. In the Theatre, he 
saw the statues of tragic and comic poets ; and, on the 
south wall of the Acropolis above it, a gilt head of Medusa 
set on an aegis. At the top of the Theatre he saw the 
cave, and the tripod dedicated by Thrasyllus above it, 
with a representation of Apollo and Artemis slaying the 
children of Niobe. Then passing on toward the 
entrance of the Acropolis, he saw the grave of. Calos, 
who was said to have been the nephew and apprentice 
of Daedalus ; his uncle hurled him down from the 
rocks of the Acropolis in jealousy of his superior inven- 
tions. Next to this was the Asclepieum, with its numer- 
ous votive offerings and images of the god and his 
children, and the old sacred spring, beside which Halir- 
rhothius, son of Posidon, was said to have offered violence 
to Alcippe, the daughter of Ares ; and Ares, who conse- 
quently slew him, underwent the first trial for homicide 
at the Areopagus. Beyond the Asclepieum was the 
temple of Themis, and in front of it a mound, the tomb 
of Hippolytus. Here also was the temple of Aphrodite 
Pandemos, and also of Earth, the nurse of children 
(KovpoTp6<f)os), and of Demeter Chloe. Both of these last 
shrines were on the immediate ascent to the Acropolis. 
Pausanias does not mention the Odeum of Herodes in his 
description of Athens, because, as he explains later on in 
his history, it was not built until after his visit. 

Pausanias next enters the Acropolis, but we need not 
follow his description of it, because we have already tried 
to realise the appearance of the Acropolis, with its various 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 53 * 

temples, and votive offerings, at the close of the fifth 
century ; and, but for the addition of a few monuments 
that have been sufficiently noticed elsewhere, there was 
not much change in the Acropolis between that date and 
the visit of Pausanias. We may therefore infer that 
he saw on the Acropolis what has already been de- 
scribed in Chapter VI., and accompany him again as he 
descends from the Propylaea. Here he noticed, on his 
way down, the spring Clepsydra, and the caves of Apollo 
and Pan. Then he saw the Areopagus, with its altar of 
Athena Areia dedicated by Orestes when he was acquitted 
by the court ; the temple of Ares he had already noticed 
on the opposite slope of the hill near the Agora. On 
the top of the hill, probably where the court used to sit 
in old times, were the stones of Hybris (Violence) and 
Anaideia (Ruthlessness), assigned respectively to the ac- 
cused and the accuser. Near below, round the chasm 
that may still be seen, was the precinct of the Holy Ones, 
the Erinnyes, who had to be propitiated by all who were 
acquitted by the court. In this were statues of the god- 
desses themselves, but in no terrible form, and also of 
Hermes and Earth and Pluto; here, too, was the tomb of 
CEdipus, associated with the famous play of Sophocles. 
Pausanias, however, was not satisfied until he had recon- 
ciled this account with that of Homer, by finding a tradi- 
tion that the bones of CEdipus had been brought from 
Thebes. Near to the Areopagus, too, was the sacred 
ship which carried the peplos of Athena in the Panathe- 
naic procession — probably the elaborate machine made 



532 ANCIENT ATHENS 

by Herodes Atticus for his gorgeous celebration of the 
festival, when it seemed to move along of its own accord 
by means of mechanism concealed within itself. This 
ship of Herodes is indeed said by Philostratus to have 
been preserved near the Pythium ; but, being movable, it 
need not always have been kept in the same place. A 
ship, though not such an elaborate one, had been used in 
the Panathenaic procession- regularly in earlier times. 

From the Areopagus, Pausanias returns to the 
Dipylon Gate, and notices the tombs on the way to 
the Academy, especially those of the Athenians who 
fell in battle and were here buried, as Thucydides 
says, in the most beautiful suburb of the town. Here, 
too, was a small temple of Dionysus, to which the 
statue of the god was carried in an annual proces- 
sion. In the Academy was an altar of Prometheus, 
which was the starting-point of a torch race to the 
city; not far off was the tomb of Plato, and the gym- 
nasium and garden which still preserved his memory. 
Near by was the tower of Timon the misanthrope, 
who seems to have chosen a much frequented region 
for his seclusion. Farther to the east was Colonus 
Hippius, the scene of the CEdipus at Co/onus, with its 
altar of Athena and Posidon, and a shrine of The- 
seus and Pirithous, and one of GEdipus and Adrastus. 
Pausanias mentions that the grove of Posidon and his 
temple had been burnt by Antigonus in his invasion, 
and perhaps it never recovered from this disaster. 
Certainly the modern traveller will look as vainly as 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 533 

Pausanias for the groves and the nightingales cele- 
brated by Sophocles. 

Here we must take leave of our guide ; if we have, 
now and then, had some doubts as to the exact route by 
which he led us, and regret that he has not given us 
more exact topographical indications, we must, on the 
whole, be grateful to him for a careful and honest account 
of what he saw. He wrote, in the first place, for his 
contemporaries, not for posterity; and even if he had 
realised the value which his book would have for us at 
the present day, he could not have foretold what monu- 
ments or buildings would survive and be easily identi- 
fied, what would either be totally destroyed or if they 
remained would be a bone of contention among archae- 
ologists. It is an unkind fate that has preserved the 
Theseum with no clear evidence for its identification, 
and the Tower of the Winds, which Pausanias does not 
mention, while it has destroyed or hidden beneath deep 
accumulations of soil most of the temples and porticoes 
which he describes. For this result his methods are 
not to blame ; we must rather acknowledge that we are 
indebted to his book for a clearer and completer pic- 
ture of Athens than we could have hoped to realise 
without his help, or than we might have inferred from 
the descriptions of a more brilliant but less conscientious 
author. 



534 ANCIENT ATHENS 

NOTE XIII a 

On the Route of Pausanias 

The question of the route followed by Pausanias in his walk through 
Athens is a very complicated one ; a brief summary of this route 1 will 
show the chief points of doubt or difficulty. He starts from the 
Dipylon Gate, and, after proceeding to the Agora, describes the build- 
ings that lie on his right, beginning with the Stoa Basileios ; the posi- 
tion of each building relative to the one preceding it is stated in every 
case till he comes to the Tyrannicides, whom we know from independent 
information to have stood in a place called the Orchestra, by the ascent 
to the Acropolis, but still in the Agora. Next he mentions a group of 
buildings all close together, and just above the fountain Enneacrunus ; 
this group of buildings offers the chief difficulty, but the difficulty 
cannot be discussed until we have the rest of Pausanias' route clearly 
in our minds. He then speaks of the temple of Hephaestus and other 
buildings* above the Ceramicus or Agora and the Stoa Basileios ; he 
mentions a statue and a gate on the way to the Painted Stoa, and after 
describing this Stoa in detail, quotes the altar of Pity in the Agora. 
Then come two buildings near together, not far off the Agora, the 
Theseum and the Gymnasium of Ptolemy ; there is no indication of the 
local relation of these two to the next group, again close together, and 
including the Precinct of Agraulos (of which the site is known) and 
the Prytaneum. From the Prytaneum he follows first a road which 
takes him in a wide sweep to the east through the lower town to the 
Olympieum and the Ilissus ; he returns to the Prytaneum and follows 
the Street of Tripods close under the east of the Acropolis to the 
Theatre, along the south side of the Acropolis and so up to the Propylsea. 
He then describes the Acropolis : on his way down he notices the Clep- 
sydra and the caves of Apollo and Pan, and then the Areopagus and 
objects round it. After this he leaves the city and proceeds to the 
suburbs, beginning with the Academy. 

With the exception of the difficulty we have reserved, there are in 
the whole of this description only two deviations from a consistent 
topographical order; after the Olympieum Pausanias quotes other 

1 See Note XIII 6. 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 535 

buildings erected by Hadrian at Athens ; and after the Areopagus he 
mentions other law-courts ; but in both cases the connection of subject 
is obvious, and there is little danger of any consequent misunderstand- 
ing. But in the case of the Enneacrunus and the buildings that 
adjoin it, if there be a similar deviation from topographical order, there 
certainly is a danger of misunderstanding ; for these buildings offer no 
very close connection of subject with one another or with the fountain, 
nor is there any obvious reason for their insertion at this point, unless 
they come into the actual topographical sequence. In order to under- 
stand the problem, it is necessary to realise clearly where they are 
inserted. Pausanias has just finished describing the buildings on the 
right hand or western side of the Agora, ending with the Tyrannicides, 
which stood by the ascent to the Acropolis ; he then mentions the 
Odeum and other buildings near the Enneacrunus ; and after that he 
returns immediately to mention two buildings that lie above those he 
has mentioned on the right hand of the Agora, before crossing the 
Agora and speaking of those that lay on its other side. Now it is 
generally admitted that the north end of the Agora, which Pausanias 
first reached, lay just to the east of the low hill on which the Theseum 
now stands ; the Tyrannicides, who mark the other end of the Agora, 
have been variously placed either at the eastern or the western end 
of the Areopagus, and the position and extent of the Agora depends 
on the position assigned to its two ends. I think the mention of the 
ascent to the Acropolis (jj avL/xev £<s 7ro'Xtv) can only apply to the ascent 
between Areopagus and Acropolis, for the road which skirts the foot 
of the Pnyx Hill does not really begin to ascend the Acropolis until 
the zigzag way branches off near the Odeum of Herodes. However, 
we must admit both alternatives to consideration. Whichever we 
accept, the fact remains that Pausanias interpolates among the descrip- 
tions of other buildings that lie close together around the Agora, the 
mention of the Odeum, Enneacrunus, and the temple of Demeter and 
the Eleusinium. Three explanations of this fact have been suggested '■ — 
(1) that of Leake, Curtius, and others, who, holding that Ennea- 
crunus was certainly in the bed of the Ilissus, believe that it and the 
other buildings mentioned with it are inserted here for some reason 
out of topographical order. 



53 6 ANCIENT ATHENS 

(2) that of Wachsmuth, Frazer, and others, who agree with Leake 
as to the position of Enneacrunus, but cannot accept so great a devia- 
tion from topographical order in Pausanias' description; they there- 
fore think Pausanias must have seen or been shown some other spring 
close to the end of the Agora, which he mistook for Enneacrunus. 

(3) that of Dorpfeld, who insists on the topographical order, and 
accepts this passage as evidence that Enneacrunus really was near the 
end of the Agora ; consequently he made excavations to look for it, 
and found what he believes to be Enneacrunus just under the Pnyx 

Hill. 

Each of these explanations requires careful criticism. (1) The evi- 
dence of other writers is, as we have seen, extremely strong in favour 
of the position of Enneacrunus near the Ilissus. In order to explain 
the deviation from topographical sequence, Curtius suggests that Pau- 
sanias actually went with his first guide as far as the Tyrannicides ; 
that he took next a guide initiated into the Mysteries, to show him 
round the Eleusinium, the temple of Demeter, and the adjoining 
buildings, before completing the circuit of the Agora ; and that this 
more or less fortuitous sequence has penetrated from his diary into his 
book. Leake suggests that the long gap between the Tyrannicides and 
the buildings round Enneacrunus was perhaps partly filled in Pausanias' 
notes by other things which he discarded in the selection of which he 
speaks. The case is not much more extreme than when he passes 
from the Prytaneum, below the north of the Acropolis, to the 
Olympieum on the Ilissus, mentioning only two or three things on the 
way; and then returns to the Prytaneum, to take a fresh start along the 
Street of the Tripods. But there is this difference, that the excursion 
to the Olympieum takes Pausanias to places which he would otherwise 
have missed, while that to the Enneacrunus takes him to the region by 
the Ilissus, which he visits again later on. An extreme version of the 
first theory is the practical, if cynical, suggestion of a modern writer of 
guide-books, who sees " considerable difficulty in questioning the liberty 
of a traveller, who lived seventeen centuries ago, to return home peri- 
odically for the purpose of dining or sleeping, and begin his work at a 
fresh point after an interval of repose." x 

1 Murray, Greece, p. 288. 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 



537 



(2) The second explanation has the great advantage of preserving 
the topographical sequence of Pausanias without rejecting the clear evi- 
dence of other writers ; but the supposition that Pausanias mistook some 
other fountain in or near the Agora for Enneacrunus is extremely im- 
probable, especially when we consider the words in which he describes 
the fountain as the only one in Athens, and his evident reminiscence of 
Thucydides. To accept this explanation is a counsel of despair; yet 
Mr. Frazer, after a most careful and judicial weighing of all the evi- 
dence, finds himself forced to it. But even so, all difficulties are not 
removed. If the fountain be the one of which some trace existed in 
the eighteenth century close to the cave of the Semnae, there is very 
little room in this region for the Odeum, and the temple of Demeter, 
and the other buildings mentioned ; if it be the one found by Professor 
Dorpfeld by the Pnyx Hill, there are still the topographical difficulties 
mentioned under (3). 

(3) So far as Pausanias himself is concerned, Professor Dorpfeld's 
explanation is certainly the simplest and easiest, though not free from 
all difficulties. For, if we place the statues of the Tyrannicides, as he 
does, near the western end of the Areopagus, there is still a distance 
of about two hundred yards from thence to the Enneacrunus, while from 
the eastern end of the Areopagus the distance is about a quarter of a 
mile. This distance is, indeed, much less than the distance to the 
Enneacrunus in the Ilissus, which is more than half a mile away ; but 
still it breaks the direct sequence, of the buildings surrounding the 
Agora, and takes us into a new region, which Pausanias approaches 
later when speaking of the Areopagus. If it be claimed for Professor 
Dorpfeld's theory that it has stood the scientific test of experiment, 
since he stated beforehand that he expected to find the Enneacrunus, 
and now has actually found a fountain corresponding to his prediction, 
this claim must be allowed, — but with the reservation that the foun- 
tain has been found some distance from where he first sought it, and 
that this interval is all in the direction away from the Agora, while no 
trace has been found of the other buildings mentioned by Pausanias as 
lying near the Enneacrunus. However, if we had no evidence but 
that of Pausanias as to the position of Enneacrunus, there is little 
doubt that all topographers would agree in accepting Professor Dorp- 



538 ANCIENT ATHENS 

feld's view as the most probable. The great objection to that view 
lies in the difficulty of reconciling it with the evidence of other writers 
as to the position of Enneacrunus by the Ilissus ; and although Pro- 
fessor Dorpfeld explains all this other evidence away, the majority of 
scholars agree that it cannot be so disposed of, and that it carries too 
great weight to be ignored. 

From this brief discussion it appears that there are serious difficulties 
in the way of each of the three explanations that have been suggested, 
and that we are practically reduced to weighing the objections in each 
case, and choosing what seems «the least improbable on the evidence 
that lies before us. Each of the three theories has found advocates 
whose opinions are entitled to the highest respect, and it is certainly 
open to any one to hold any of the three without the possibility of a dog- 
matic assertion that he is wrong. In the present chapter it has been 
necessary to adopt one view to the exclusion of the other two ; but, in 
accepting the first as being, in my opinion, the most in accordance with 
all the available evidence, it is without any dogmatic assertion of its cer- 
tainty ; a very little new evidence might turn the scale toward either 
of the other two hypotheses, and such evidence may come to light any 
day. 

NOTE XIII b. 

Topographical Summary of the Route of Pausanias 

References to , Numbers as 

Chapters and given on 

Sections in. plan of 

Pausanias. Athens. 

I. 2. 4. "EaeXOovTwv cs tyjv ttoX.iv, building for processions . . 1 
TrXrjatov, temple of Demeter . . . . . .2 

from gate to Ceramicus, stoae ...... 3 

5. one of stoae has Upa 6eQ>v ....... 4 

it has also Gymnasium of Hermes ..... 5 

there is in it House of Pulytion, now sacred to Dionysus . 6 
ivravOct, dedication of Eubulides ..... 7 

/xctol 8e to Atovuaov Tc'/xevos, house with clay images . . 8 
3. 1. Ceramicus. 

TrpuTr) €v Se£ta, Stoa Basileios ...... 9 

tt\y)<tiov, statues of Conon and Evagoras . . . .10 

evTavda, Zeus Eleutherios . . . . . . t 1 



EXPLANATION OF NUMBERS REFERRING TO ROUTE OF PAUSANIAS 

(See Note XIII b. p. 538) 

Meeting-place of Theseus and Piri- 

thous. 
Temple of Ilithyia. 
Statues of Hadrian. 
Precinct of Zeus Olympius. 
Pythium. 

Sanctuary of Apollo Delphinius. 
Gardens. 

Temple of Aphrodite. 
Statue of Aphrodite. 
Cynosarges. 
Lyceum. 

Monument of Nisus. 
Ilissus. 

Place where Boreas seized Orithyia. 
Altar of Ilissian Muses. 
Place where Codrus fell. 
Agrae. 

Temple of Artemis Agrotera. 
Stadium. 

Street of the Tripods. 
Works of art in Street of Tripods. 
Satyr and Dionysus in temple. 
Sanctuary of Dionysus beside the 

Theatre. 
Odeum of Pericles. 
Gorgoneion on wall of Acropolis. 
Cave with monument of Thrasyllus. 
Grave of Calos. 
Sanctuary of Asclepius. 
Spring. 

Temple of Themis. 
Tumulus to Hippolytus. 
Temple of Aphrodite Pandemos. 
Ge Kourotrophos. 
Demeter Chloe. 
Clepsydra. 

> Caves of Apollo and Pan. 

Areopagus. 

Altar of Athena Areia. 

Stones of Hybris and Anaideia. 

Sanctuary of Semnae. 

Monument of CEdipus. 

Panathenaic Ship. 



I. 


Pompeum. 


45 


2. 


Temple of Demeter. 




3. 


Porticoes. 


46 


4- 


Sanctuaries of various gods. 


47 


5- 


Gymnasium of Hermes. 


48 


6. 


House of Pulytion. 


49 


7- 


Dedication of Eubulides. 


50 


8. 


House with clay images. 


5i 


9- 


Stoa Basileios. 


52. 


10. 


Statues of Conon and Evagoras. 


53 


11. 


Zeus Eleuthereus. 


54 


12. 


Stoa with paintings by Euphranor. 


55- 


13- 


Temple of Apollo Patrous. 


56. 


14. 


Statues by Leochares and Calamis. 


57 


15- 


Metroum. 


58. 


16. 


Buleuterium. 


59. 


n> 


Tholus. 


60 


18. 


Statues of Eponymi. 


61. 


19. 


Group of statues, one of Demos- 


62. 




thenes. 


63 


20. 


Temple of Ares. 


64 


21. 


Pindar, and other statues. 


65. 


22. 


Harmodius and Aristogiton. 


66 


23- 


Odeum. 


67 


24. 


Statues of Egyptian kings. 




25- 


Statue of Pyrrhus. 


68. 


26. 


Enneacrunus. 


69 


27. 


Temples of Demeter and Tripto- 


70. 




lemus. 


7 1 - 


28. 


Statue of Epimenides. 


72. 


29. 


Temple of Eucleia. 


73 


30- 


Temple of Hephaestus. 


74 


31- 


Temple of Aphrodite Urania. 


75- 


32. 


Hermes Agoraios. 


76 


33- 


Triumphal Arch. 


77- 


34- 


Stoa Poecile. 


78 


35- 


Statues, one of Solon. 


79- 


36. 


Seleucus. 


80. 


37- 


Altar of Pity. 


81 


38. 


Gymnasium of Ptolemy. 


82. 


39- 


Theseum. 


83. 


40. 


Sanctuary of Dioscuri. 


84. 


41. 


Precinct of Aglauros. 


85. 


42. 


Ascent of Persians. 


86. 


43- 


Prytaneum. 


87. 


44. 


Sanctuary of Serapis. 





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PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 539 

2. stoa oTTLaOev, with paintings, by Euphranor . . .12 

3. statue by Euphranor TrXyo-iov iv tw raw, Apollo Patrous . 13 
7r/3o tov veC), statues by Leochares and Calamis . . -14 

4. M^rpo? #€o>v lepov . . . . . . . 15 

irX-qviov, Buleuterium of 500 . ... . . .16 

(Digression on Gauls.) 

5. I. 7rXrj(TLOv tov {3ov\evTr)piov, Tholus . . . . 17 

avuiTtpu), statues of Eponymi . . . . . .18 

(Digression on Attalus and Ptolemy.) 

8. 3. fxera ra? eiKova? twv iwoivvpcwv, statues, including Eirene 
and Plutus, Lycurgus, Callias, Demosthenes . 

5. tt)? tov Arj/xooSevovs cIkovos TrX-qatov, temple of Ares 
ircpl tov vaov, statues, including Pindar 
ov iroppoi Se Harmodius and Aristogiton 
theatre called Odeum ..... 

6. 7rpb r>7? iaoSov, statues of Egyptian kings . 
(Digression on Ptolemies.) 

II. I. AOrjvaLOLs Se etKcuv ecrri kcu ILvppov . . . . 25 

(Digression on Pyrrhus.) 

14. 1. inside Odeum, Dionysus. 

irX-qo-iov 8e eort Kprjvq, Enneacrunus .... 

1. vrrlp tyjv Kprfvrjv, temples of Demeter and Triptolemus 

3. irpo tov vaov tov^i ev$a Kal tov Tpi7rToA.e//,ou to. dyaA/xa 

bronze bull and Epimenides ..... 

4. ert a7ru)Tep(ji), temple of Eucleia ..... 

5. V7T€p TOV K€pap.CLKOV KCLL O~T0(XV . . . (3aCTlXcLOV, temple Of 

Hephaestus . 
6. TrX-qo-Cov, temple of Aphrodite Urania 

15. I. lovac 7rpo<i tt]v cttoov rjv HolkiXtjv ovopd^ovcnv, Hermes 

x^goraios .... 
Kal 7rvXr) 7rXr}0~LOv 

2. paintings in Stoa Poecile . 

16. I. Statues trpo p,ev t^? q-Toas, Solon 

oXiyov Se airmTepui, Seleucus 

17. i. iv Trj dyopa, among other things, altar of Pity 
2 . in Gymnasium of Ptolemy, tyjs dyopa? d7re^ovrt ov ttoXv, statues 

7r/oo5 rep yvp.vao-LUi, hieron of Theseus (o-yjkos) 

18. 1. hieron of Dioscuri ....... 

2. v-n-ep tu)v Acoo-Kovpiov to lepbv, precinct of Aglauros 
Kara, tovto eVava/^dvTes Persians slew those on Acropolis 

3. -rrX-qo-Lov Prytaneum ....... 



26 

27 

28 
29 

3° 
3 1 



3 2 
33 
34 
35 
36 

31 
38 

39 
40 

4i 

42 

43 



54 o ANCIENT ATHENS 

4. evTevOev lovariv eh rot koltu) rfjs 7r0A.ec>?, hieron of Sarapis . 44 
ov -rropptij, place of agreement of Theseus and Pirithous . 45 

5. ttXyjo-lov, temple of Ilithyia . . . . .46 

6. irplv es to lepov Uvjll tov Acos tov OXvp.Triov, statues of 

Hadrian ......... 47 

7rept/3oAos of Zeus Olympius 48 

18. 9. (Digression; other buildings of Hadrian in Athens.) 

19. I. /x€Ta tov vabv tov Aios tov 'OAv/x,7rtov, Statue of Apollo 

Pythius . . . . . . . -49 

to-™ Se Kal a\\o lepov of Apollo Delphinius . . -50 

2. Gardens . . r . . . . 51 

2. temple of Aphrodite 52 

Aphrodite TrX-qo-iov tov vaov . . . . . -53 

3. Hieron of Heracles called Cynosarges . . . -54 

4. Lyceum . .55 

5. o-maOev tov AvKetov, monument of Nisus . . . -56 

6. rivers of Athens, Ilissus (Eridanus flowing into it) -57 
6 8c 'IAio-os ovtos evOa Boreas seized Orithyia . . -58 
eV avT<2, altar of Ilissian Muses . . . . -59 
heUvvTat Se Kal evOa Codrus was killed . . . .60 

7. Sia f3acn tov 'IXlo-ov, Agrse . . . . . . .61 

temple of Artemis Agrotera . ... . .62 

Stadium .......... 63 

20. 1. a7ro tov UpvTavetov, street called Tripods, . . . .64 

and works of art in it, including satyr of Praxiteles . . 65 
iv to! vaw tw TrX-qo-iov, satyr and Dionysus . . . .66 

2. 7r/oo? tw $eaTpw, oldest hieron of Dionysus, and two tem- 

ples in it . . . . . . . . -67 

3. ttXt)o-lov tov re lepov tov Aiovvaov Kal tov OeaTpov, erection 

in imitation of Xerxes' tent (Odeum of Pericles) . . 68 
(Digression on Sulla's capture of Athens.) 

21. 1. iv tw OeaTpw, statues of poets. 

4. e-7TL tov votlov Xeyofxevov ret^ous, o e<s to OeaTpov ecrri Terpa/x- 

fxevov, Medusa's head on ALgis . . . . .69 

5. iv Trj Kopvcftrj tov OeaTpov, cave (monument of Thrasyllus) . 70 

6. '16vt(i)v €5 ttjv 'AkpottoXlv a7ro tov OeaTpov, grave of Calos . 71 

7. hieron of Asclepius 7 2 

eV avT<$, spring . . . . . . . -73 

2 2. 1. //.era to lepov tov ' Ao~KXr]7rkOV TavTt) 7rpos tyjv AKpo7roXiv 

lovo-i, temple of Themis ...... 74 

7too avTov, tumulus to Hippolytus . . . . -75 



PAUSANIAS IN ATHENS 



541 



3. Aphrodite Pandemos 76 

hieron of Ge Kourotrophos . . . . . -77 
hieron of Demeter Chloe . . . . . . -78 

4. entrance to Acropolis. 
(Description of Acropolis.) 

28. 4. Kara/?acri ovk e? ttjv kolto) ttoXlv, aXK oo~ov virb to. IIpo7rijA.ata, 

spring (Clepsydra) ....... 79 

TrXyo-Lov, hieron of Apollo in cave ..... 80 

(Pan) 81 

5. Areopagus ......... 82 

altar of Athena Areia ....... 83 

rough stones, of Hybris and Anaideia . . . .84 

6. 7r\r](TLov, hieron of Semnae ...... 85 

7. evros tov 7rept/3oXov, monument of QEdipus . . .86 
(Digression on law courts.) 

29. 1. tov 'Apctov irayov irX-qo-Lov, Panathenaic ship . . -87 

(On to ef£w Ttjs 7roAews, Academy, etc.). 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE PIRAEUS 

J/ E7T€io-e Sc Kal tov Ileipatcug ra Aoi7ra 6 ®ep,t(TTOK\rj^ OLKoSofieiv (y7rf}pKT0 

Se avrov irpoTtpov iwl ttJs Ikuvov apx*}**, ?)? KaT eviaurov A^vaiots r)p£t) 

vo/ai£<ov to xwpLOv kol\6v etvac, Atjuevas €^ov rpets avTO<f>ve2s. 

— Thuc. I. 93. 3. 

6 8c Xleipcuevs SrjpLos /xev ^v ck 7raAaiou, irporepov 8e 7T/3iv 17 ©CjIUOtokA?}? 
'AOtji/ollovs r)p£ev eViVeiov ouk ^v ' <Pd\r)pov ok, tolvtyj yap eAa^icrTov d7re^et 
rrjs 7rdAea)s 17 OdXaaaa, tovto o~<fiio~Lv iiTLveiov rjv, Kal M.eve<r6ea cf>acrlv avroOev 
rats vavcrlv i<s Tpocav dva^BrjvaL, Kal tovtov irpoTepov ®-qo~£a Sioaovra Miva> 
oY/cas Trjs 'AvSpoyea) reAefT)}?. ©c/aio-tokA^s 8e w? ?jp£e (rot? re ya/o 7rAeoi>- 
(tlv €7riT^8eioT€po? 6 Ileipaievs icpatvero ot ir poKeicr 6 at Kal Ai/xeVa? rpeis dv0' 
ev6s €X €tv T0 ^ ^o-Xrjpot) touto o-<f>L(nv iTrtvetov etvat KaTe<XK€i>dcraTo. 

— Paus. I. 1.2. 

While Athens, grouped about its sacred citadel some 
four miles from the sea, is a typical example of an ancient 
Greek city, the Piraeus is no less typical of a Greek 
harbour town. It bore the same relation to Athens as 
Nisaea to Megara, as Nauplia to Argos, and as Le- 
chaeum and Cenchreae to Corinth. But in the case of the 
Piraeus we have the advantage of fuller information not 
only as to its topography, but also of the manner in 
which it was adapted to the varying conditions of com- 
merce and of empire. It has therefore an interest of its 
own, even apart from its association with Athens ; and 
its natural advantages of conformation and geographical 

542 



J3 c/j 




THE PIRAEUS 543 

position have again made it one of the principal ports of 
the Levant, with even more ambitious aspirations for the 
future. 

We have already, in Chapter I., noticed the broader 
geographical features, especially as they affected Athens ; 
but a more detailed description of the coast line is nec- 




Harbour of Phalerum and Phaleric Bay. 
Behind, Hymettus. 

essary to a comprehension of the Piraeus and its historical 
vicissitudes. The nearest part of the coast to Athens is 
the broad and open bay of Phalerum, which has a shelv- 
ing sandy beach such as was very convenient for beach- 
ing small ships, according to the early Greek practice. 
This is, however, open to the south-west, the prevailing 



5 44 ANCIENT ATHENS 

wind; and although this would not matter when ships 
were high and dry on the land, it must have made em- 
barkation and disembarkation difficult at times. The 
Phaleric bay is bounded on the east by a rocky headland, 
Cape Colias, on which the wreckage of the Persian ships 
was thrown up after the battle of Salamis ; on the west 
by the promontory of the Piraeus. The nearest portion 
of this is a rocky projection, enclosing at its extremity a 
small harbour, partly natural, partly protected by moles. 
This is the harbour of Phalerum. At the back of 
it the ground runs up into a hill which is the highest 
point of the whole Piraic peninsula, and which must 
probably be identified as Munychia. To the south-west 
of this hill a deep bay runs into the shore, forming an 
almost land-locked basin, the harbour of Munychia. 
Beyond this the coast sweeps round in a succession of 
irregular curves, the hill sloping gently to a rocky shore, 
until it reaches, on the west, the entrance of the great 
harbour that was, and still is, the chief advantage of 
the Piraeus ; this harbour contains a sheet of water 
nearly fourteen hundred yards by eight hundred, and at 
its northern and southern ends are inlets which could 
readily be adapted as separate arsenals and docks. Its 
entrance is protected on the north by a rocky promon- 
tory, known, from the name of a primitive owner, as 
Eetionea. Just beyond this is a narrow inlet, known as 
the K(i)(j)b<; \l^tjv or "dumb harbour," of no practical use 
because of its rocky shore; beyond this the coast stretches 
away, first to the west, then to the north, and then to 



THE PIRAEUS 545 

the west again, without any natural features that con- 
cern us, until we come to the ferry opposite the Cyno- 
sura of Salamis, and the straits where the Greeks 
routed the Persian fleet as it crowded into the narrow 
channels on each side of Psyttalea. 

The open bay of Phalerum was not only the place 
where the sea was nearest to Athens, but was also, as 
we have seen, a most convenient place for beaching 
ships. Accordingly we are not surprised to learn that 
it was from here that Theseus sailed for Crete to face 
the Minotaur, and that the Athenian contingent put 
off to join the Greek fleet on its way to Troy. How 
long the Athenians remained content with this open 
sandy bay we cannot tell. The first literary reference 
to any use being made of the Piraic peninsula is the 
statement that Hippias, after the assassination of his 
brother by Harmodius and Aristogiton, had a project 
of fortifying Munychia and withdrawing there, if he 
were turned out of Athens. This project, however, 
was never realised, and it is uncertain whether he 
ever completed the fortification. But when Athens 
became a sea power, after the expulsion of the tyrants, 
the open beach no longer sufficed for her needs. 
The splendid harbours of the Piraeus lay ready 
to hand, and it is now difficult for us to under- 
stand how they were left so long idle. The credit 
of the change belongs to one man, Themistocles, who 
was the founder, not only of the Piraeus, but of the na- 
val power of Athens. In his archonship, 493 B.C., he 

2N 



546 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



persuaded the Athenians to begin the building of the 
Piraeus, and the construction of harbour works ; and 
when, ten years later, the discovery of a rich vein of 
silver at Laurium placed a large sum at the disposal of 
the state, he induced them to devote it to the increase 




General View of Piraeus from Munychia. 
Harbour of Munychia (Pashalimani) ; above, Acte. 

of the navy. The result was that Athens, which previ- 
ously could barely muster fifty ships, furnished two hun- 
dred triremes to the fleet which defeated the Persians 
at Salamis. After this splendid justification of his pol- 
icy, Themistocles went still farther in his attempt to 



THE PIR^US 



547 



make the Athenians turn to the sea for their safety and 
their power, and even tried to persuade them to desert 
Athens and build a new city on the Piraic peninsula. 
Thouo-h he was unsuccessful in this attempt, the prin- 
ciple which he advocated was also that of the policy of 




General View of Pir.eus from Munychia. 
Great harbour of Piraeus; above its entrance, Psyttalea; beyond this, Salamis. 

Pericles. By means of the Long Walls, Athens and the 
Piraeus were made into a single fortified town, impreg- 
nable so long as it retained the command of the sea; 
and it is from this point of view that the naval and polit- 
ical development of the Piraeus must be understood. 



548 ANCIENT ATHENS 

The fortifications of the harbour town have already been 
considered in relation to the defences of Athens ; here 
we are only concerned with them in relation to the 
topographical problems offered by the Piraeus and its 
harbours. 

Even the smaller number of fifty ships that existed 
before the time of Themistocles must have found the 
sandy bay of Phalerum in some ways inconvenient, 
especially with the rival island of ^Egina, " the eyesore 
of the Piraeus," so close at hand, and the fleets of Persia 
at any time ready to make a descent, and destroy the 
ships drawn up unprotected on the shore. The little 
Phaleric harbour was the nearest to the bay, which 
probably continued to be used for purposes of embark- 
ation and commerce ; and within the harbour there 
would be plenty of room for the fifty ships of the early 
Athenian navy, with the storehouses and arsenal be- 
longing to them ; this small harbour would also have 
the advantage of being protected by the fort on Mu- 
nychia. It is even possible that the slip-ways for galleys, 
of which some remains can still be seen in the Phaleric 
harbour, may date, at least in their original form, from 
the time before Themistocles. 

At the time of the Persian Wars, however, the Piraic 
peninsula was not yet regarded as the arsenal of a great 
naval power, the chief centre of the strength of Athens, 
and the guarantee of the independence of Greece from 
a foreign conqueror. At the battle of Salamis it was, 
to use the words of the oracle of Bacis, "the strait 



THE PULSUS 549 

between Cynosura on Salamis and the sacred shore of 
Artemis of the golden sword " that was bridged with 
ships ; and this same sacred shore, lepbs olkttj, is evi- 
dently regarded as part of the region sacred to Artemis 
Munychia. In some other passages, too, Munychia is 
apparently applied to the whole promontory as its origi- 
nal name, though later the term is restricted to the fort 
on the hill between the two smaller harbours, and to the 
district immediately surrounding it. 

The steps by which the sacred promontory of Mu- 
nychia w r as transformed into the town and arsenal of 
Piraeus cannot be traced in all their succession. The 
project was that of Themistocles ; but we do not know 
how much of it was realised before his exile. We can 
only describe the town's formation in its results, not in 
its progress ; it must not be supposed that Themistocles 
lived to see the ultimate development of the work he 
had begun. 

The town of Piraeus enjoyed a distinction, quite apart 
from its relation to Athens, in the manner in which it 
was laid out. This was done after the designs of Hippo- 
dam us of Miletus, the famous architect who also laid 
out the city of Rhodes, which is said by Strabo to have 
resembled the Piraeus in character. Some notion of his 
design can still be gained from the traces of streets and 
houses and boundary stones, of which several have been 
found ; it consisted of a system of broad, straight streets, 
crossing one another at right angles, with various spa- 
cious squares, devoted to religious or civil use. One of 



5 5 o ANCIENT ATHENS 

these, the Agora of Hippodamus, was situated in a central 
position. The road from Athens led into this square, 
and from it was another broad road leading to the temple 
of Artemis Munychia, which was situated on the harbour 
of the same name. This temple was probably on the site 
of the old shrine that had given its sanctity to the whole 
peninsula ; and another early shrine may have been the 
temple of Demeter at Phalerum. The chief temple in 
the town itself was that of Zeus Soter, with whom was 
associated Athena Soteira ; festivities were held in his 
honour, with processions through the streets ; his altar 
— a fine work of art by Cephisodotus, who also made 
the statue of Athena — was decked periodically, and 
dedications were often made to him or sacrifices offered 
in his honour by sailors and others. Fine quays and 
wharves were constructed, with porticoes and market 
halls. The chief building of this sort was the Deigma, 
a sort of Exchange where merchants could congregate, 
show one another samples of their goods, and transact 
their business, with the help of the bankers who kept 
their stalls in the same building. This Exchange was 
on the quay — a position which had the inconvenience 
of exposing it to a sudden raid. 

All these buildings were probably part of the design 
of Hippodamus, and, as he laid out the city of Rhodes 
in 408 B.C., it is not easy to assign his work to an earlier 
date than that of Pericles, to whom some of the porticoes 
are expressly assigned. He may, indeed, have been one 
of the Ionians who came at Cimon's invitation ; but 



THE PIRAEUS 551 

this is improbable both politically and chronologically ; 
though Cimon built the Long Walls, we can hardly 
suppose him to have thrown himself so heartily into the 
schemes of Themistocles as to devote so much thought 
and expense to the decoration of the town that states- 
man had founded. The design of Hippodamus is, on 
the other hand, most appropriate to Pericles. We have 
seen how bold were the innovations he proposed on the 
Acropolis. He could not reconstruct the town of 
Athens, and substitute broad and even streets for its 
tortuous and narrow alleys ; but he would welcome the 
opportunity of exhibiting, in the Piraeus, an example of 
a splendid city, such as contrasted with the somewhat 
mean appearance of the houses and streets of the older 
town, and would have offered a more harmonious setting 
to its unrivalled temples and monuments. 

So far we have been concerned only with the town 
of the Piraeus ; before pursuing its history further, we 
must turn our attention to the harbours. The old har- 
bour of Phalerum still continued in use, though the 
galley-slips which it contained, being less commodious 
and less solidly constructed than those in Munychia, 
were perhaps reserved for lighter slips ; little is left of 
them now except a portion of the slip-ways. The super- 
structure was probably made entirely of wood. It is to 
be noted that the harbour of Phalerum is not included 
in the three which provided the 372 slips available for 
docking the ships of the line in the fourth century. It 
was enclosed within the line of fortification ; the wall ran 



55 2 ANCIENT ATHENS 

along the two moles that protected it, ending in a tower 
on either side of the entrance, which was probably 
guarded by a chain. 

The deeper inlet which ends in the circular basin of 
the harbour of Munychia was provided with similar 
fortifications at its entrance. Within it the galley-slips 




Harbour of Phalerum (Fanari). 

are, in two or three places, much better preserved. 
What we now see may be the result of reconstruction 
or repairs in the fourth century, if not later , but there is 
no reason to suppose that the arrangements at that time 
differed from those of the best days of the Athenian em- 
pire, and therefore they may appropriately be described 
here. • The slips were bordered at their upper end by 
a wall which ran, in a polygonal shape, all round the 



THE PIRAEUS 553 

harbour, or the greater part of it ; and outside this wall 
was a road. The slips themselves sloped down at a 
gentle gradient from this wall to their lower end, which 
opened directly on the water. Thus a galley could 
back directly on to the lower end of its slip-way, and 
be hauled up clear of the water by means of a wind- 
lass. The remains of the blocks on which the keel 
was supported still remain in some cases, both in Phale- 
rum and in Munychia. Between them, in Munychia, 
there may be seen also the lower drums of the rows of 
columns that supported the roof. These are alternately 
placed with wider or narrower intercolumniations, and 
carried, according to Professor Dorpfeld's restoration, a 
roof arranged in a row of gables all round the harbour, 
so that two triremes were housed under each gable. 
The slip for each galley measures over 44. 1 m. ( = 145 
feet) in length by 6.50 m. ( = 21 feet) in width ; and from 
these dimensions w T e can obtain an approximate notion of 
the size of the ancient trireme. If we allow for the pro- 
jections at the side to accommodate the rowers, its hull, 
both in size and proportions, must have resembled that 
of a modern " destroyer " ; like them, it was built almost 
entirely for speed, and must have been very uncomfort- 
able in a rough or choppy sea. 

The great harbour of the Piraeus was divided into 
several parts, of which the names are recorded. Two 



1 The measurement cannot be exactly ascertained, as the lower ends are under 
water now. I take this estimate from Angelopoulos, irepl 7reipcuws /cat tQu \ifiivcjv 
avrov, p. 67. 



554 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



of these must be Cantharus 1 and Zea, which are men- 
tioned in the official lists of the distribution of the 
galley-slips. The order of the different parts of the 
harbour is described in part by the Scholiast of Aris- 
tophanes, Peace. 145, who says, " The Piraeus has three 
harbours, all enclosed ; one is the harbour of Cantharus 
... in which are the dockyards, then the Aphrodision, 
and then five stoae surrounding the harbour." Some 
of these buildings are subsequent to the time with which 
we are now concerned ; but the position indicated for 
Cantharus, just within the entrance of the harbour on 
the south side, and extending about as far as the modern 
custom-house, is clear enough ; and in this region earlier 
travellers saw the remains of galley-slips, though they 
have now disappeared. This is, curiously enough, the 
usual anchorage at the present day for men-of-war, both 
Greek and foreign. The greater part of the quays 
facing the south-east side of the harbour, and adjoining 
the streets of the town, must have been given up to 
commercial purposes ; the Deigma, or Exchange, and 
other porticoes probably opened on to them. The only 
place that remains for Zea is the extreme north end 
of the harbour, near to the present railway station; this 
is used at present chiefly for small boats, and could 
easily have been adapted to the purposes of an ancient 
arsenal. 2 Here was the chief ship-building yard, and 

1 The view held by some authorities that Cantharus means the whole of the great 
harbour is untenable if Zea was there also. 

2 Cf. Wheler, p. 419. (Porto-Lione) " within, it enlargeth it self into a consider- 
able Harbour, with depth enough, and good Anchorage all over; except a little Bay 



GALLEY- SLIPS IN HARBOUR OF MUNYCHIA 

after Ddrpfeld. 




Walker & Cockerell sc. 



PLAN. 




LONGITUDINAL SECTION (restored). 



Scale of Feet 
o ao 20 ^o 40 co 60 

Scale of Metres 
por s 10 15 

mil 1 I 1 1 T I I I I I 1 



3 



TRANSVERSE SECTION 
(restored). 



THE PIRAEUS • 555 

storehouses and workshops must have surrounded it, 
even before the splendid additions that were made to 
these in the fourth century. Beyond it, on the north- 
west side of the harbour, was Eetionea, with a space too 
narrow to be of much practical use, though it was essen- 
tial to the defence of the harbour, and was for this rea- 
son of considerable importance. 

Such must have been, in the main, the character of 
the Piraeus and its harbours as projected by Themis- 
tocles and completed by Pericles, and as it existed dur- 
ing the greater part of the Peloponnesian War. Its 
extraordinary efficiency as an arsenal and dockyard is 
sufficiently attested by the record of the various suc- 
cessive fleets sent out by the Athenians during the war. 
At Salamis Athens had provided a fleet of two hundred 
ships ; to the disastrous Sicilian expedition she sent 
forth in 415 B.C. 134 triremes, and reinforced them in 
413 B.C. by J2> more; yet, in spite of the total loss of 
these 207 ships, she could still maintain her command 
of the seas at home ; and when the disaster had injured 
her prestige, she could recover it in a succession of 
naval actions, and, after a reverse, could make up an 
emergency fleet of 150 ships to send to the battle of 
Arginusae in 406 b.c. The rapidity and efficiency of 



at the utmost point of it : which seems to have been formerly a small Harbour for 
Barques; though now choaked up. But that which I judge most considerable is, 
that the nature of the place is such, that though a Ship should happen to be driven 
upon the shore, yet it may get off again without damage." It would, in fact, have 
been a good place for beaching ships, according to the old custom, even before the 
galley-slips were made. 



556 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Athenian ship-building could hardly receive a stronger 
testimonial. In the fourth century the usual number 
of the fleet was about four hundred. 

The history of the Piraeus, from the architectural as 
well as from the political point of view, is of course 
closely bound up with that of Athens ; but there were 
certain events that affected the Piraeus especially. The 
first of these was during the rule of the Four Hundred 
in Athens in 411 b.c. They, or rather the extreme 
party among them, endeavoured to fortify Eetionea, sup- 
plementing its external defences by walls also tenable 
against an attack from the harbour or city. Their 
object in this was to control the entrance to the har- 
bour, so as to be able either to prevent the return 
of the democratic Athenian fleet from Samos, or 
to admit the Spartans. There is no doubt that to 
have made Eetionea into a fort tenable by a small 
garrison would have been even a more serious menace to 
the safety of Athens than the fortification of Munychia ; 
but the project never was completed, owing chiefly to the 
opposition of Theramenes. The fort on Munychia, on 
the other hand, plays an important part in the history of 
Athens, and Leake has admirably shown how its posses- 
sion again and again decided the fate of the city. The 
most conspicuous example was when Thrasybulus and 
his band of exiles from Phyle seized it, and made it the 
basis from which they conducted their successful attack 
on the Thirty Tyrants, and so began the restoration of 
Athens after her fall at the close of the Peloponnesian 



THE PIRAEUS 557 

War. This exploit of Thrasybulus made such an im- 
pression on the popular imagination that a miraculous 
incident is said to have accompanied his night march ; 
his men were said to have been led through the darkness 
by a pillar of light, and in consequence an altar was 
established on Munychia to Phosphoros — probably an 
epithet of Artemis, who had thus shown her favour to 
those who came to occupy her sacred hill. 

The second stage in the restoration of Athenian 
power, the return of Conon to rebuild the Long Walls 
after his great naval victory at Cnidus, was also cele- 
brated by a temple dedicated in the Piraeus — in this 
case to Aphrodite Euploia, the sea-goddess of Cnidus, to 
whose favour he attributed the victory won within sight 
of her shrine. This temple of Aphrodite at the Piraeus 
was the one situated between Cantharus and the range 
of porticoes along the quays, — that is to say, just about 
on the site of the modern custom-house, where it would 
be a most conspicuous object to all who entered the 
harbour. 

The naval reorganisation of the fourth century brought 
with it not only extensive repairs and reconstruction of 
the dockyards and galley-slips, but also, under the ad- 
ministration of Lycurgus, the completion of a building 
which is perhaps known to us more in detail than any 
other lost monument of antiquity, and than many that 
are partially preserved. This is the famous ^KevoOrJK-q 
or arsenal built by Philo, the same architect who later 
built the great portico of the Hall of the Mysteries at 



558 ANCIENT ATHENS 

Eleusis. The specification for this building has been 
preserved to us in an inscription, which, though obscure 
in some details, gives a very clear notion of the building 
as a whole. It was designed to be a storehouse for rig- 
ging, and was intended to supersede both a smaller stone 
building and temporary wooden ones that had been in use 
before. It was intended only for the rigging belonging 
to the ships in Zea, the largest of the naval harbours, 
and was situated near the gateway leading from the 
Agora, and behind the galley-slips that were covered, 
like those of Munychia, by a continuous roof. Its length 
was to be 400 feet, its breadth 55 ; it was to be built in 
the main, both walls and columns, of Piraic limestone 
(aKTiTTjs Xt^os), but more conspicuous or important parts, 
such as the lintels and thresholds of the doors, and the 
capitals of the columns, were to be of Pentelic or Hymet- 
tian marble. The roof was of tiles, supported on wooden 
beams and rafters. The building was to end in gables, 
and to have windows in its sides, opposite every inter- 
columniation, and great doorways at the ends, closed by 
bronze-plated doors. The whole was divided into a nave 
and two aisles by two rows of columns ; and the aisles 
were to be provided with every convenience for storing 
ships' gear, such as shelves for cables, and ladders to 
reach them, and boxes for sails, etc. In the middle was 
a passage twenty feet broad, between the two rows of 
columns, separated from the aisles by a partition three 
feet high. The evident intention was that the building 
should constantly remain open to public inspection, and 



THE PIRAEUS 559 

that all storage room should be arranged so that its con- 
tents were easily visible from the central nave. Even 
ventilation is provided for in the specification. The 
whole building is an admirable example of the detailed 
way in which work to be done for the state was pre- 
scribed, and also of the publicity, in the Athenian 
democracy, even of matters that are sometimes re- 
garded as state secrets. With such an arsenal there 
certainly could never be any doubt, either in the mind 
of a citizen or of an enemy, as to the condition of naval 
stores. 

In the Hellenistic age, there is little to record of 
the Piraeus but successive occupations of the fort of 
Munychia by different foreign garrisons. The Piraeus 
continued a place of importance until it was vindictively 
destroyed by Sulla ; it recovered very slowly from this 
disaster, and in Strabo's time was still in a much 
reduced condition ; but the description of Pausanias 
implies that in his time it had again become a flourish- 
ing town. He approached Athens by sea, passing under 
Sunium with its temple of Athena, and he still saw in 
the great harbour of Piraeus the sheds and slips for the 
galleys, and the tomb of Themistocles at the entrance. 
He saw, too, the precinct of Zeus Soter and Athena, 
with its two bronze statues, Zeus with sceptre and Nike, 
and Athena with a spear. Here, too, was a portrait 
group by Arcesilaus, of Leosthenes and his sons ; he 
was the hero of the Lamian War, and, had he not fallen 
in battle, the Greeks he led might have had more sue- 



560 



ANCIENT ATHENS 



cess in resisting Macedon. The Long Stoa, one of 
those facing the quay, and at the northern end, since it 
was the one included in the fort of Eetionea by the 
Four Hundred, was still in the time of Pausanias the 
chief market near the port ; and another which he says 
was remote from it must be the famous Agora of Hippo- 
damus, the centre of the city laid out by the Milesian 
architect. Behind the Long Stoa were statues of Zeus 
and Demos, by Leochares, the latter another of those 
impersonations of the people of Athens that so many 
sculptors and painters vied with another in portraying. 
The most conspicuous building in the harbour was the 
temple of the Cnidian Aphrodite, dedicated by Conon ; 
and so, appropriately enough, the two names first re- 
called to the memory of a visitor who came to the 
Piraeus by sea were those of its founder Themistocles, 
whose tomb was just outside the entrance, and of Conon, 
who restored its prosperity by his great Cnidian victory, 
and whose thank-offering to the goddess of Cnidus stood 
on the right as one sailed into the harbour. 

So long as Athens continued to be recognised as the 
intellectual metropolis of the ancient world, the Piraeus 
must have retained something of its old importance. 
But in mediaeval times it came to be little used. 
Wheler says : " The Town that was here in former times, 
is now utterly ruined, and deserted, with all the admira- 
ble Porticoes, and Edifices, Pausanias describeth. The 
only Building that now remaineth is a kind of Ware- 
house, to receive Merchandises, to gather the Customs 



THE PIRAEUS 561 

and Taxes ; and where the Veivode, for the most part, 
layeth up his Velania, to sell to the Merchants." The 
only survival from classical time was a colossal lion of 
Greek workmanship, from which the Piraeus was named 
in mediaeval times Porto Leone or Porto Drako (mon- 
ster). This lion was carried off by Morosini to Venice, 
and now stands there in the arsenal. It bears a pecul- 
iar interest for us in the names carved upon it, which 
have been deciphered as recording a visit to the Piraeus 
by comrades of Harold Hardrada, the same man who 
fell before our Harold at Stamford Bridge, just before 
the battle of Hastings. 

The new prosperity of the Piraeus dates from the 
establishment of Athens as the capital of independent 
Greece. Its streets have again been laid out with 
regularity, set at right angles and with spacious open 
squares ; but the squalid shops and workhouses of a 
Levantine port are a poor substitute for the splendid 
porticoes of the old harbour town. It already has be- 
come once more the chief port of the ^Egean, and is 
ambitious to play a still more important role in the 
development of the great route between East and West. 
But in the eyes of many, its chief interest will still lie 
in the little Greek fishing boats and coasting ships, that 
still retain much of the character of the ancient vessels 
unchanged since Theseus sailed from Phalerum with the 
human tribute for Minos in Crete, and Menestheus 
put off with his fifty ships to join the Greek fleet on 
its way to Troy. 
20 



562 ANCIENT ATHENS 

NOTE XIV a. 
The Three Harbours of the Piraeus. 

A considerable amount of confusion has been caused by ancient refer- 
ences to the three harbours of the Piraeus, because modern scholars 
have, not unnaturally, supposed that the same three harbours are always 
referred to, especially where, as in the passages quoted at the beginning 
of Chapter XIV., the later author is evidently referring to the earlier. 
As a fact, however, the various references to three harbours, those of 
Thucydides, of Pausanias, and of the Attic official documents, each of 
them refers to a different set of three, as is obvious enough when one 
examines the matter. 

Thucydides speaks of three natural harbours in the Piraic promon- 
tory, before Themistocles took it in hand. These can only be the great 
(Piraic) harbour on the north-west side and the two smaller inlets 
(Munychian and Phaleric) on the south-west. 

Pausanias points out the superiority of the Piraic harbour in the nar- 
rower sense, that is to say the great north-west harbour, because it 
contained, as organised in later times, three harbours, Cantharus, Zea, 
and the commercial harbour of Emporion. 

The official documents speak of the dry docks for galleys in three 
naval arsenals, those of Munychia, Zea, and Cantharus. 

It appears, then, that the occurrence of the number three in all these 
accounts is misleading. In reality there are five harbours referred to : 
those of Phalerum, of Munychia, and of Zea, Cantharus, and Emporion, 
these last three together constituting the great harbour of Piraeus ; and 
the various authorities just quoted happen to select three of these, but a 
different three in each case, for their special purpose. Pausanias, 
indeed, guards against error by saying, a little later, that, besides the 
Piraeus, Athens has the harbours of Munychia and Phalerum. Those 
who are familiar with recent maps or books on the Piraeus will notice 
that I differ from most recent topographers, and have returned, in the 
main, to the topography of Leake, both as regards the walls and as 
regards the harbours. In the case of the harbours I am induced to do 
this mainly by the facts pointed out by M. Angelopoulos in his pamphlet, 



THE PIR^US 563 

Hepl Hapaia>s /cat rwv At/xeVcuv avrov (Athens, 1898). He quotes the 
numbers of slip-ways for galleys recorded for the different naval har- 
bours, viz. : — 

Munychia ..... 82 

Zea ...... 196 

Cantharus ..... 94 

37 2 

and compares them with the breadth of the slips of which the remains 
may still be seen, viz. 6.25 m. in Fanari and 6.50 in Pashalimani. It 
follows from these data that the number of slip-ways recorded for 
Munychia would require a minimum shore line at the lower end of the 
docks of 512 m. for the smaller breadth, and of 533 m. for the greater; 
and similarly the minimum shore line of Zea, for the greater breadth, 
would be 1274 m. And this, too, allows none of the necessary intervals 
for quays, etc. Now the available space in Fanari, at the lower end of 
the slip-ways, is only 440 m. ; therefore its now customary identifica- 
tion as the harbour of Munychia must be erroneous ; and the available 
space in Pashalimani, measured in the same manner, is only 900 m. ; 
therefore its identification as Zea must also be wrong. I have verified 
M. Angelopoulos's measurements on the best available maps, and they 
appear to me to be correct ; nor have they, to my knowledge, been 
challenged. There is, therefore, no alternative but to return to Leake's 
identification of Fanari as the harbour of Phalerum, and of Pashalimani, 
as the harbour of Munychia ; and Zea must be placed, like Cantharus, 
in the great harbour of the Piraeus. 

The shifting of the harbour of Munychia from Fanari to Pashalimani 
does not necessarily involve the shifting of Munychia itself; for the 
position now generally assigned to it lies between the two, and so either 
might be named after it. The arguments given by Leake for his iden- 
tification of Munychia as the extreme part of the peninsula are strong ; 
but the discovery of a boundary stone of Munychia to the north-east of 
the great harbour seems to settle the question. 



INDEX 



Academy, the, 24, 64, 68. 

Acamas, 520. 

Acrocorinth, the, 9. 

Acropolis, the, bombardment of, 506. 

bronzes from, 174-176. 

dismantling of, by Persians, 48, 97. 

rock from, 29-30. 

siege of, by Turks, 355. 

walls of, 36-44, 52-54. 

water supply of, 25-26, 61. 
Acroteria at Epidaurus, 341-342. 
^Egaleos, 10. 
vEgeus, 395, 520. 
^Egina, 2, 3, 14, 135, 312, 548. 
yEschines, 70, 452. 
^Eschylus, 99-100, 389, 434, 436. 

tomb of, 523. 
Agatharchus, 407. 
Aglauros, 303, 525. 

precinct of, 134, 525-526. 

sanctuary of, 126, 138. 
Agora, the, 63, 88, 126-128, 381, 455. 

of Hippodamus (Piraeus), 550. 
Agoracntus, 396. 
Agoranomion, the, 503. 
Agrae, 91, 120-121, 140, 523, 529. 
Agraulos, grotto of, 47, 54, 97. 
Agrippeum, the so-called, 496. 
Ajax, statue of, 521. 
Akte, limestone from, 30. 
Alabastron, the, 172. 
Alcamenes, statues by, 31, 248, 397-398, 

435.453, 5*4. 5 28 > 5 2 9- 
Alcibiades, 407, 516. 

in pictures in Propylaea, 241. 
Alcippe, 98, 530. 
Alcmaeonidae, the, 45, 96, 187. 
Alexander the Great, 479, 480-481, 521. 



Altars of — 

Alcmena, 528. 

Athena, 84, 209, 249. 

Athena Areia, 100, 531. 

Athena and Posidon, 532. 

Hebe, 528. 

Heracles, 528. 

Ilissian Muses, 528. 

Iolaus, 528. 

Pan, 92. 

of Phosphoros (Artemis ?), 557. 

Pity (or Mercy), 524. 

Prometheus, 532. 

Zeus Astrapaios, 96, 144. 

Zeus Herkeios, 77, 251, 363, 365. 

Zeus"Ti/a<rros, 104, 106. 
Amazons, battles of Greeks and, 98-99, 

282, 349, 388, 392. 
Amphicrates, 242. 
Amphitrite, on Parthenon pediment, 300. 

Perseus' visit to, in painting and pot- 
tery, 392-393- 
Amphorseas, Panathenaic prizes, 1 70-1 71. 
Amynos, 115, 140. 
Anacreon, statue of, 250. 
Anakeion, the, 97, 393. 
Andocides, 70. 
Andronicus of Cyrrhus, 488. 
Androutsos, Odysseus, 23, 61. 
Angelopoulos, 69 n., 553 n., 562-563. 
Animals, on bronzes, 175. 

on tombs, 473. 

on vases, 159. 
Antae, of Propylaea, 225, 228, 230, 231. 

of Theseum, 414, 417. 
Antenor, statues of Tyrannicides by, 138, 

203, 521. 
Antigonus, 532. 
Antiochus, 520. 
Antiochus Epiphanes, 486-487. 



565 



5 66 



INDEX 



Antoninus Pius, 29. 
Aphrodite in Parthenon frieze, 331. 
Aphrodite Pandemos, worship of, 396. 
Aphrodite Urania, cult of, 395-396. 
Apollo in Parthenon frieze, 330. 
Apollo Patrous, worship of, 95-96. 
Apollo, Pythian, cult of, 96. 
Appius Claudius Pulcher, 492. 
Aqueducts, Athenian, 25-29, 108, 139. 
Arcesilaus, 559. 

Arch, triumphal (318 B.C.), 481, 524. 
Archermus of Chios, 185, 199. 
Architecture, early Attic, 177— 179. 

Doric, 177-178, 270-281. 

of Erechtheum, 353, 367-370. 

of imperialism, 481. 

Ionic, 177-179, 353, 367-370* 375- 

of Parthenon, 270-281. 

of temple of Nike, 375. 

of Theseum, 411-412. 
Areopagus, 7, 11, 25, 90, 98-100. 

Court of, 100, 386, 387, 505. 
Ares, 98, 99, 530. 

(the god) in Parthenon frieze, 330. 
Argolis, 3. 

Argonauts, the, in paintings, 393. 
Argos, 8, 153. 

Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia, 492. 
Aristides, 139. 
Aristion, 492. 

tombstone of, 201. 
Aristocles, 201. 
Aristodemus, 71 n. 
Aristogiton, 45, 128, 137, 138, 203, 242, 

473r 545- 
Aristophanes, 43, 69 n., 94, 106, 107, 172, 

246, 408, 429, 436, 554. 
Aristotle, 399, 474, 482, 528. 
Arrian, 128, 132. 

Art, athletic school of, 203-207, 289-292. 
Artemis, in Parthenon frieze, 330. 
Artemis Agrotera, 385. 
Artemis Brauronia, precinct of, 55, 84, 

226, 246. 
Asclepiadae, family of the, 43 1. 
Asclepieum, the, 23, 98, 115, 425-433, 

530- 
Asclepius, reliefs dedicated to, 472. 

worship of, 98, 115, 140, 246, 398, 

425-433, 473- 
Asia Minor, Ionic architecture in, 367. 
schools of sculpture in, 851. 



Athena, birth of, in sculpture, 304-308. 
contest of, with Posidon, 23, 247-248, 

293, 295-3 4, 35 8 - 

as goddess of healing, 245. 

in Nike frieze, 375. 

in Parthenon frieze, 331. 

statuettes of, 202-203. 

on temple pediment, 186-187. 

on vases of Panathenaic games, 1 7 1. 
Athena Hephsestia, 254. 
Athena Promachos, 202. 
Athens, agriculture of, 5-8. 

beginnings of, 88-92, 125-135. 

building materials used in, 29-35. 

bronzes from, 174-176. 

census of, 482. 

climate of, 3-4, 268, 409. 

commerce of, 14-16. 

decorations in, by foreign princes, 
482-488, 492-503. 

defences of, 8-14, 506-507. 

drama at, 433-436. 

early sculpture in, 179-186. 

harbours of, 15-16, 542-563. 

influence of Pisistratus in, 185. 

Ionic influence in, 178-179, 185, 383- 

384. 
mediaeval, 560-561. 
modern town of, 507, 562. 
occupation of, by Turks, 218, 260-261. 
position of, geographically, 4, 73, 542- 

545- 

pottery of, 152-174. 

sack of, by Persians, 85, 140, 152, 167, 
210, 382. 

school of art in (sixth century), 183. 

siege of, by Sulla, 491-492. 

topography of early, 141-151. 

treasury of, 222. 

walls of, 36, 59-72, 5°6. 

wards in, 66, 72, 75. 

water supply of, 16-29. 
Attalus I., 483-485, 520. 
Attalus II., 485-486. 
Axiochus, the, 20. 

B 

Bacchylides, poems of, 392. 
Bacis, oracle of, 548. 
Balustrade of Nike temple, 377-380. 
Banquet of a hero, on tombstones, 432, 
471-472. 



INDEX 



5 6 7 



Barathron, the, 65, 66. 

Basilica, derived from " Basileios," 386. 

Bastion, the Nike, 218, 219, 224, 230, 234- 

235» 374, 37 6 > 397- 
Bates, W. N., 412. 
Bath, the bridal, 18-19, 173. 
Baths, Roman, 504. 

Battle of Gods and Giants, 82, 186-187,282. 
Bema, the, 106-107. 
Birds, Aristophanes', 246. 
Bceotia, 8, 10, 385. 
Bologna, head of Athena Hephaestia at, 

255- 
Boreas and Orithyia, 528. 

Breccia, as building material, 31. 

in temple and theatre of Dionysus, 

435, 438, 45°- 
Brick, baked, use of, in building, 29. 

in walls of Athens, 61. 
British Museum, Athenian relics in, 218, 

263, 33 6 > 355» 374, 4°4- 
Bronze, lioness of (Propylaea), 242. 
sculpture in, 201-202. 
statues in, erected by Attalus I., 483- 

484. 
statuettes of, 202-203. 
Bronzes from Acropolis excavations, 174- 

176. 
Brunn, 169 n., 201, 301, 309-310. 
Brygos, 136, 167. 
Buleuterium, the, 126, 131, 134, 137, 390- 

392, 520. 
Bury, Professor, 237 n. 
Butadae, the, 362, 365. 
Byzes of Naxos, 270. 



Caeneus in Theseum frieze, 413, 418, 419. 

Calamis, 243, 519. 

Calenus, 59. 

Callias, portrait of, 521. 

Callicrates, 58, 217, 218, 219, 220, 385. 

Callimachus, Greek general, 389. 

Callimachus, lamp of, 362. 

Callippus, portrait of, 520. 

Callirhoe, the spring, 18-23, 25, 27-28, 

120, 141, 143, I49-I5 1 * 5 2 7- 
Cantharus, 554, 557, 562-563. 
Capitals, of early architecture, 1 77-179. 

of Erechtheum, 233, 367-368. 

of Propylaea, 232-233. 



Carrey, drawings of Parthenon by, 260, 

293-3 4- 
Caryatid Porch, the, 238 n., 355, 356, 360, 

370- 
Caryatids of Erechtheum, 355, 369. 
Cassander, 481, 524. 
Cave — 

of Aglauros, 137, 213. 

of Agraulos, 47, 54, 97. 

of Apollo, 92-95, 143, 146, 531. 

with monument of Thrasyllus, 403- 
404. 

of Pan, 146, 531. 
Cavvadias, 92, 95. 
Cecropium, the, 360-361. 
Cecrops, 520. 
Cellini, Benvenuto, 349. 
Cemeteries, pottery from, 153. 
Centaur on vase, 163. 
Centaurs in sculpture, 282-291, 413, 417- 

418. 
Cephisodotus, 521, 550. 
Cephissia, 28. 

Cephisus, the, 7, 16-17, I 35* 
Ceramicus, the, 63, 136, 1 53-154. 

tombs in, 457-458. 

vases from, 168. 
"Ceramicus" as used by Pausanias, 515. 
Cercyon in Theseum frieze, 415. 
Chabrias, tomb of, 457. 
Chaeronea, battle of, 59. 
Chalcis, 14, 153. 
Charioteer on vase, 168, 207. 
Chariots, in Parthenon frieze, 324-325. 

in Parthenon pediments, 299-300, 312- 

3H. 
Charon depicted on tombs, 472, 476-477. 
Choiseul-Gouffier, Marquis de, 262. 
Chrysippus, 525. 
Chrysostom, Dio, 57 n., 69. 
Church of St. Demetrius Lombardaris, 65, 

457. 
Cicero, 461, 492-493, 5 26. 
Cimon, 52, 56-57, 211, 212-215, 217, 381, 

383, 386, 392, 422, 456, 523, 55°- 

55 1 - 
Cistern beneath Erechtheum, 358-359. 

Cisterns in Athens, 25, 98. 

Cithaeron, 376. 

Clay, Attic, 63. 

of the Ceramicus, 161-163. 

Cleft of the Persian ascent, 97, 251, 526. 



5 68 



INDEX 



Cleoetas, 249. 

Cleomenes, 79. 

Cleophon, 237 n. 

Clepsydra, the spring, 23-24, 92, 531. 

Clisthenes, 45, 137. 

tomb of, 457. 
Clitias, 164. 

Cnidus, battle of, 59, 557. 
Codrus, 78, 529. 
Codrus inscription, the, 66. 
Coins, statue of Athena on, 214. 

Athena and Posidon on, 248, 298-299. 

Theatre of Dionysus on, 438. 

representing Zeus Polieus, 249. 
Cullytos, deme of, 90. 
Colonos Agoraios, the, 422. 
Colonus, 68. 
Colonus Hippius, 532. 
Colour, use of, in statues, 187, 191-192, 

195- 

Colours in Theseum, 412-413. 

Columns of — 

Erechtheum, 367-370. 

Parthenon, 273-275. 

Propylaea, 386. 

temple of Olympian Zeus, 487-488. 
Confederacy of Delos, 216. 
Conglomerate, building material, 31, 435, 

438, 450. 
Conon, 59. 

tomb of, 457. 
Constantinople, statue of Athena de- 
stroyed at, 214. 
Corinth, 8, 14, 15, 396. 

battle of, 458, 465. 

influence of, on Athens, 162 n. 
Coronea, battle of, 252. 
Cossutius, 487, 488. 
Court of Areopagus, 100, 386, 387, 505. 
Cratinus, 21, 395. 
Cresilas, 244, 255, 256. 
Critius, 138 n., 203, 246, 417, 521. 
Curtius, 17, 71, 72, 88, 104, 106, 142, 505 n. 

on identification of Theseum, 424. 

on route of Pausanias, 536. 

on topography of early Athens, 74-75, 
89 n., 91, 126. 
Curves in Parthenon, 271-275. 
Cyclopes as wall- builders, 39-40. 
Cyllene, 3. 
Cylon, 44, 79, 103, 161. 

statue of, 252. 



Cylonion, the, 103. 
Cynaegeirus, 389. 
Cynosarges, the, 528. 
Cyzicus, 236. 

D 

Dancing-place, an early, 122-123, 433* 
Decelea, 10. 
Deianira on vase, 163. 
Deigma, the (Piraeus), 550, 554. 
De Laborde head, the, 320-321. 
Delphi, 152-153. 

Cnidian Treasury at, 354. 
Demeter in Parthenon frieze, 331. 
Demetrius of Phalerum, 461, 481, 482. 
Demosthenes, 173, 452. 

concerning Apollo Patrous of the 
Athenians, 96. 

on private dwellings in Athens, 406. 
Deucalion, 527. 

Dexileos, monument of, 458, 465-466, 474. 
Diitrephes, 243-244. 
Diogeneion, the, 483. 
Diogenes, 388. 

Dionysium in the Marshes, the, m-113, 
123-124, 141, 142, 143, 148-149, 

I 5 I - 

Dionysus, birth of, in relief of Theatre of 

Dionysus, 451. 
on choragic monument, 400. 
dedication of house of Pulytion to, 516. 
on the Kertch vase, 297. 
in Parthenon frieze, 329. 331. 
early precinct of, 111-113. 
state worship of, 452. 
Dioscuri, the, in paintings, 393. 
Dodwell, Henry, 24. 
Doors of Erechtheum, 370-372. 
Dorpfeld, Professor, 17, 81, 1 16, 122, 
247 n., 268, 422, 435 n., 553. 
cited concerning — 

Callirhoe, the spring, 21. 
Dionysium in the Marshes, 111-112. 
plan of Propylaea, 224, 229. 
rebuilding of old temple of Athena, 

210 n. 
rivers of Athenian plain, 17. 
route of Pausanias, 537-538. 
Theatre of Dionysus, 444-448. 
topography of early Athens, 1 42- 1 5 1. 
treasury on the Acropolis, 80. 
excavations by, 25-27, 108-110. 



INDEX 



569 



Draco, 161. 

Drama in Athens, 138,433-436, 522. 

Dresden, copies of statue of Athena He- 

phsestia at, 255. 
Dromos, the, 384. 
Duris, 167. 

E 
Echetlos, 389. 

Eetionea, 544, 555, 556, 560. 
Eleusis, 10, 63, 135, 140, 277. 

black limestone from, 35, 231, 372. 

pediments of Parthenon found at, 
293 n. 

smaller Propykea at, 492-493. 
Eleusinia, the, 121. 
Eleusinium, the, 116. 
Elgin, Lord, 218, 262, 355, 374, 404. 
Elgin Marbles, the, 262-263, 3 r 5> 355- 374- 
Emporion, port of, 562-563. 
Endceus, 251. 

Enneacrunus, the fountain, 18-23, 2 7> T °8> 
120, 141, 142, 143, 149-151, 522, 

535-538. 
Enneapylon, the, 42. 
Eos in terra-cotta group above the Stoa 

Basileios, 387. 
Ephebi, the, 483, 525. 
Ephesus, 179. 

Epidaurus, Nereid monument at, 379. 
theatre at, 438. 
worship of Asclepius imported from, 

398, 425- 
Epimenides, 96, 103. 
Eponymi, the, 392, 520. 
Erechtheum, the, 23, 80, 213, 233, 236- 

239- 
■ architecture of, 353, 367-370. 

as a church, 354~355- 

doors of, 370-372. 

frieze of, 372. 

influence of, on later work, 353-354. 

marble used in building, 34. 

plan of, 355-363. 

purpose of, 361-363. 

restoration of, 509. 

stone used in frieze of, 35. 
Erechtheus 520. 

house of. 76-78. 
Eretria as a burying-place, 475. 
Ergotimus, 164. 
Erichthonius, 303, 349, 366, 525-526. 

birth of, on Theseum pediment, 420. 



Eridanus, the, 12, 1 6-1 7, 24, 63. 
Erinnyes, the, 531. 
Errephori, the, 251, 365, 525. 
Erymanthus, 3. 
Etruria, vases found in, 169. 
Etymologicum Magnum, the, 21. 
Eubulides, 516, 517 n. 
Euclides, 238. 

Eumenes ot Pergamum. 484. 
Eumenide;. yEschylus', 100. 
Euphranor, 388, 519. 
Euphronios, 136. 167, 168, 392. 
Euripides, 92, 436. 

tomb of, 457, 5 14-5 1 5. 
Eurymedon, battle of, 53, 211, 383. 
Enthrypht'o, Plato's, 386. 



Farwell, J. R., ill. 

Fauvel, 262. 

Females, figures of, in Nike frieze, 378— 

379- 
figures of, in. Parthenon pediment, 
268-269. 
Fergusson, James, 268-269. 
Festivals — 

of the Anthesteria, 113, 123. 

of Dionysus, 90, 113, 124, 141, 395, 

399, 45 2 - 

of Dionysus Eleuthereus, 138. 

Iobaccheia, 113. 

Ionic, 95-96. 

of the Lenaea, 111-112, 124, 138. 

Panathenaic, 84, 121. 

of the Syncecia, 73, 89. 
See Games. 
Figures, mourning, 469-470. 

on Parthenon pediment, interpreta- 
tions of, 300-304. 
Findlay, A. F., 505. 
Fire, on the Acropolis (406 B.C.), 238, 371. 

in Opisthodomus (404 B.C.), 238, 257. 
Florence, Francois vase at, 163-164. 
Food supply in ancient Greece, 5-8. 
Franks in Athens, 60. 
Frazer, J. G., 22 n., 112 n., 210 n., 223 n., 

513 n., 515 n., 536, 537. 
Fresco-paintings of the Stoa Poikile, 388. 
Frieze of — 

Erechtheum, 367-368, 372. 

Mausoleum, 403. 



570 



INDEX 



Frieze of — 

monument of Lysicrates, 400-403. 
monument of Philopappus, 497-498. 
Parthenon, 379. 

stage in Theatre of Dionysus, 453-454. 
temple of Athena Nike, 218, 234, 375— 

380. 
Theseum, 413-419. 
Friezes, Parthenon, 322-340. 

sculptors of, 340-343. 
Funerals, restrictions on, 460-461. 
Furtwangler, 212, 243 n., 304 n. 
cited concerning — 

copies of the Athena Hephaestia, 255. 

the Erechtheum, 363. 

figures in Parthenon pediments, 301, 

309» 331 n. 
lecythus in Propylaea, 244. 
temple of Athena on Acroplis, 80-81. 



Games, Olympian, 423. 

Panathenaic, 171, 185. 
Gardens, district called the, 528. 
Gardner, Percy, 455 n., 468 n., 470 n., 473. 
Gate — 

Acharnian, 68. 

Beule, 406. 

of Diochares, 17, 24, 67-68. 

Diomean, 68. 

Dipylon, 17, 49-50, 62-64, 68, 127, 

154.384. 387.457. 5*4. 5 J 5- 
Itonian, 66, 131, 514. 

Melitan, 65. 

Piraic, 64, 65, 515. 

of Roman Market, 493-495. 

the Sacred, 59, 65. 

Thriasian, 63. 
Gate-house, an early, 55-56. 
Gates, Melitid, 456. 
Germanicus, inscription to, 496. 
Gigantomachy, groups of, 82, 86, 350. 
Gods, and Giants, 350. 

in Parthenon frieze, 329-332, 335. 
Gorgons pursuing Perseus, on vase, 162- 

163. 
Graves of Mycenaean period, 115. 
Great Mosque, the, 24. 
Gryllus, the name, 241. 
Gryphons, in sculpture of Theatre of 
Dionysus, 440. 



Gryphons, on vases, 159. 
Gymnasium of — 

Hermes, 516. 

Ptolemy, 483, 525. 

H 

Habron, 59, 70. 

Hadrian, 29, 60, 67, 117, 450,488,498- 
503, 506, 520. 

Arch of, 67. 

Library of, 499, 500, 507. 
Halirrhothius, 98, 99, 530. 
Hall of Mysteries, Eleusis, 481. 
Hand-clasping among Greeks, 466-467. 
Hardrada, Harold, at Piraeus, 561. 
Harmodius, 45, 128, 137, 138, 203, 242, 

473_. 545- 
Harpocration, 69. 

Harrison, Miss, 247 n., 303. 

Hecatompedon, the, 80, 264, 363. 

Hecatompedos Neos, the, 222, 351-352. 

Hegios, 203. 

Heldreich, Professor von, 245 n. 

Hephaestia, 254. 

Hephaestus, at birth of Athena, 305-308. 

in Parthenon frieze, 331. 
Hera in Parthenon frieze, 330. 
Heracles, in early pediments, 180-183. 

prominence of, in early monuments, 
86-87. 

in Theseum frieze, 414-415. 
Heraeum of Argos, the, 383. 
Hermae, the, 516, 518. 
Hermes Street, 388, 516, 517. 
Hermolycus the Pancratiast, 247. 
Herodes Atticus, 35, 60, 146-147, 399, 
405, 500, 503-504, 529, 532. 

Odeum of, 30, 60, 98, 131, 484, 500, 
503-504, 507, 530. 
Herodotus, 20, 97, 99, 195, 253. 

concerning cleft in wall of Acropolis, 
47 n. 

quoted, 208. 
Herondas, 432. 
Herse, 303, 525. 
Hestia, 390, 391. 

in Parthenon frieze, 331. 
Hieron, the potter, 136, 167. 
Hill, of Curses, 100. 

of the Nymphs, 65. 
Hipparchus, 128, 137, 138. 



INDEX 



571 



Hippias, 45, 59, 128, 135, 242, 545. 

Hippocrates, the physician, 431. 

Hippodamus of Miletus, 384, 549-551. 

Hippolytus, tomb of, 530. 

Hippothoon, 520. 

Homer, 76-77, 310, 531. 

Horse, in Parthenon pediment, 310. 

reliefs of the, 200. 
Horologium, the, 488-491, 533. 
Horses, in Parthenon frieze, 199-200, 323- 

325, 338-339. 

in Parthenon pediment, 321-322. 

on tombstones, 462, 473-474. 
House of, Erechtheus, 76-78. 

Pulytion, 516. 
Houses, Mycenaean, on Acropolis, 76, 79. 

pre-Persian, 11 4-1 15, 139. 

private, of fifth and fourth centuries, 
406-408. 

rock-cut, 73. 
Huddilston, 167. 
Hydra on early pediment, 180. 
Hymettus, 7, 9, 90. 

marble from, 184. 



Ictinus, 58, 217, 220, 264, 279. 
Ilissus, the, 12, 16-17, 9 1 * 

bridge across, 68. 
lobacchi, the, in, 112. 
Ion, Euripides', 92, 95. 
Ionia, influence of, in Athens, 383-384. 

See Polygnotus. 
Iris in Parthenon pediment, 307, 310. 
Italy, pottery exported from Athens to, 
169. 

J 
Joints in Parthenon, 274-279. 
Justinian, 60. 

K 

Kara, limestone from, 31, 79. 

stone from, in temple of Dionysus, 122. 

stone from, for water channels, 26. 
Keats, quoted, 311. 
Kertch, gold plaque found at, 349. 

vase found at, 296, 349. 
Key pattern, the, 155. 
King's Portico, the, 386-387. 
Kings, abolition of, in Athens, 44-45. 

of Pergamum, decorations in Athens 
by, 483-486. 



Klein, 167. 

Knights in Parthenon frieze, 323-325, 340. 

Koile, 66, 74, 75, 91. 

Kollytos, 113. 

K.o\u}v&ki, to, 29. 

Kv8a.drjva.iov, the deme, 9 1. 



Lacedaemonius, 241. 
Lachares, the tyrant, 482. 
Laconia, 8. 

Lamp of Callimachus, the, 362. 
Lantern of Demosthenes., the, 403. 
Lantern of Diogenes, the, 403. 
Lapiths and Centaurs, in sculpture, 282- 
291, 350. 

in painting, 392. 

in Theseum frieze, 413, 417-418. 
Larissa, the, 9. 
Leaena, 242-243, 473. 
Leake, W. M., 47, 57, 68-69. 
Lecythi, black silhouette figures on, 165. 

funeral, 170, 172, 244, 459, 470, 474- 

477- 
Lenseum, the, 111-112, 124-125. 

Lenormant statuette, 345. 

Leochares, 519, 560. 

Leon, tombstone of, 473. 

Leos, 520. 

Lesche, fresco-paintings of the, 388. 

Lesser Mysteries. See Mysteries. 

Leucippus, daughters of, 393. 

Library, of Capuchin monastery, 403. 

of Hadrian, 499, 500, 507. 

Ptolemy's, 483. 
Light, question of, in temples, 268-270, 
412. 

in Parthenon, 337-338. 
Limestone, from Akte, 30. 

black Eleusinian, in Propybea, 231- 
232. 

from Kara, 31, 79. 

Piraic, in Odeum of Regilla, 503. 

sculptures in, 182. 

temples built of, 179. 

in Theatre of Dionysus, 438. 

in Theseum, 411. 
Lioness without a tongue, statue of, 242- 

243- 
Lions of porcelain from tombs, 157. 

Livy, 59, 70, 486. 



572 



INDEX 



Loeschcke, 21. 

Lolling, Dr., 422. 

Long Rocks, the, 92, 96. 

Long Walls. See tinder Walls. 

Lucian, 203-204, 243, 254-255. 

Lusieri, 262, 263. 

Lutrophoros, the, 173-174, 459, 474. 

Lycabettus, 6, 11, 12, 13, 68, 91. 

rock from, 29. 

view of sixth-century Athens from, 

I34-I3 6 - 
Lyceum, the, 24, 399, 528. 
Lycia, wall-building Cyclopes from, 39, 40. 
Lycius, 241, 246. 
Lycurgus, 31, 398, 407, 434, 448. 

portrait of, 521. 

tomb of, 457. 
Lysander, 58-59. 
Lysicrates, choragic monument of, 382, 

399-403. 
Lyson, 520. 

M 

Madrid, puteal at, 306, 310. 

Mahan, Captain, 50-51. 

Maidens, in Parthenon frieze, 327, 330. 

statues called, 188, 191-192, 195-200, 
201, 204, 207, 356, 370. 
Mantinea, battle of, in painting, 519. 
Marathon, 9, 10, 168, 457. 

battle of, 92, 199, 207, 214, 375-376, 

389, 523. 

spoils of, 385. 
Marble, coloured, 31-32. 

Hymettian, 33, 184. 

island, 32-33. 

Parian, 32-33, 82, 269. 

Pentelic, 33-35, 56, 212, 231-232, 503. 

vases in, 174. 
Marriage bath, the, 18-19, 173. 
Mars' Hill, 100. 

Marshes, quarter called the, 11 2-1 13. 
Martial, 349. 
Medusa on vase, 163. 
Megara, 8. 

Mehte, 87, 90, 113, 422, 424. 
Menander, tomb of, 457, 514. 
Menidi, tombs of, 154, 174. 
Messenia, 8. 

Metal, decorative work in, 174-176. 
Metal work in statue of Athena Partne- 
rs, 349-35°- 



Metopes, absence of, from Propylaea, 233- 

234. 

of Parthenon, 282-292. 

of Theseum, 414-419. 

of treasury at Delphi, 168. 
Metroum, the, 131, 396, 519-520. 
Michaelis, 252 n., 351. 
Micon, 388, 389, 392, 393, 525. 
Middleton, J. G., 29, 31, 32, 370 n. 
Miletus, 14, 153, 179. 
Miltiades, 139, 199-200, 214, 389, 456. 
Mnesicles, 224-231. 
Monument of — 

Hegeso, 464. 

Lysicrates, 382, 399-403. 

Philopappus, II, 496-498. 

Thrasyllus, 433. 
Monuments, choragic, 399-406. 

funeral, 458-461. 
Morosini, 260-261, 321, 373, 506, 561. 
Miiller, O., 417. 
Munychia, fortress of, 59, 71, 135, 544, 

549, 55 6 > 559- 
Murray, 156 n., 536. 
Museum Hill, fort on, 59. 
Mycale, battle of, 247, 250. 
Mycalessus, raid on, 243. 
Mycenae, postern at, 42. 

pottery from, 75-76, 157-158. 

walls of, 39-40. 
Myron, 241, 246, 247, 252, 292, 416. 
Mysteries, at Agrse (the Lesser), 91, 120- 

121, I40, 523. 

Eleusinian, travesty of, 516. 

N 

Naples, statues in, 203. 

torso of warrior at, 244. 
Naucratis, 179. 
Naupactus, battle of, 247. 
Navy, the Athenian, 51-52, 216, 545-546. 
Naxos, marble from, 32-33, 185-186. 

Ionic capitals carved in marble from, 
179. 
Nereids at Epidaurus, 379. 
Nero, visit of, to Athens, 450, 496. 
Nesiotes, 138 n., 203, 246, 417, 521. 
Nessus on vase, 163. 
Nicetas, 214-215. 
Nicias, 234, 236. 
Nike, in Parthenon frieze, 307. 



INDEX 



573 



Nike, in Parthenon pediment, 300, 321. 

Nilsson, Dr., 358. 

Nisus of Megara, 528. 

Nointel, Marquis de, 260. 

Nonnus, 19. 

Nymphs, reliefs of the, 200. 

O 

Observatory at Athens, II, 64, 65, 66. 
Odeum, the, 394"395> 5 22 > 405. 

of Herodes Atticus, 30, 60, 98, 131, 

484, 5°°> 5°3-5°4> 507. 530- 

of Pericles, 492, 529-530. 

of Regilla. See Odeum of Herodes 
Atticus. 
CEdipus, tomb of, 531. 
CEdipus at Colonus, the, 532. 
OZnoe, 10. 

battle at, 388. 
CEneus, 520. 
Oil, as prize in games, 171. 

traffic in, 494. 
Olive, Athena's sacred, 7, 208, 251, 359, 

366. 
Olive groves, Athenian, 16, 128, 135. 
Olive trees, sacred, 170. 
Olympia, 152-153. 

bronzes from, 174. 

sculpture of, 312, 315. 
Olympieum, the, 13, 21, 116-119, 135, 
140, 141, 148, 149, 151, 493, 498- 

499, 5*4, 5 26 > 5 2 7- 
Opisthodomus of Parthenon, the, 222, 

238, 352. 
fire in, 238, 257. 
Orchestra, the, 138, 521-522. 
Orchestra (dancing- place), an early, 122- 

123, 433- 
Orestes, 99, 100, 531. 
Otto of Bavaria, 507. 
Our Lady of the Golden Cave, shrine of, 

404. 



Painted Colonnade, the, 388. 

Painting, possible influence of, in Nike 

sculpture, 376-377. 
Paintings, in Buleuterion, 520. 

of Butadae in Erechtheum, 362, 365- 

366. 
in fresco, 388. 



Paintings, referring to Persian Wars, 383. 

in Stoa Basileios, 519. 

in Stoa Eleutherios, 388. 

in temple of the Dioscuri, 393. 

in Theseum, 392. 
Palace Garden, the, 26, 67. 
Pallantids on Theseum frieze, 417-418. 
Panaenus, 388, 389. 
Pandion, 520. 
Pandora on basis of statue of Athena 

Parthenos, 350. 
Pandroseum, the (Erechtheum), 236, 239, 

359, 365. 

court of, 251. 
Pandrosos, 303, 525. 
Pancps, the fountain, 24, 68. 
Parnes, 10, 376. 
Parnon, 3. 
Paros, marble from, 32-33, 185, 186, 269. 

Ionic capitals in marble from, 179. 
PartheniUm, the herb, 245. 
Parthenon, the, 80, 177, 366. 

architects of, 217, 218, 220. 

architecture of, 270-281. 

the bank of Athens, 222-223. 

beginning of, 219. 

as a church, 258-259, 267. 

completion of, 221, 257. 

fires in, 238, 257. 

foundations of limestone, 30. 

friezes of, 199-200, 322-340, 379. 

lighting of, 268-270, 337-338. 

marble used in building, 34. 

as a mosque, 260. 

origin of plan for building, 210. 

pediments of, 293-322. 

restoration of, 510. 

sculpture of, 281-343. 

substructure of, 211, 220-221, 271- 
272. 

votive offerings in, 249-250. 
Pass of Daphne, 10, 456. 
Pausanias, 16-18, 21-23, 27, 56, 59, 64, 
97, 120, 134, 146, 214, 240, 242 n., 
243, 247, 252, 284, 293, 295, 301, 
304, 314, 344, 350 n., 358, 362, 
392, 422, 424, 453, 458, 481, 496, 

5"-54i. 

Payment for sculptures, rate of, 341-342, 

37 2 - 
Peace, Aristophanes', 408, 554. 

Peace of Nicias, 234, 236, 435. 



574 



INDEX 



Pediments, absence of, from Propylaea, 

233- 2 34. 
early, 178-183. 
of Parthenon, 293-322. 
of temple of Athena (old), 82-83. 
of Theseum, 419-421. 
Pegasus, 122. 

Pelasgians in early Greece, 39-40. 
Pelasgicon (Pelargicon), the, 23, 42-44, 

60, 140. 
Peloponnesian War, the, 10, 58, 70, 75, 89, 

227, 239, 376, 398,514. 
Penrose, F. C, 117-118, 178, 271, 273, 

385, 421 n. 
Pentelicus, Mount, 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 135, 376. 
marble from, 33-35, 212. 
quarries of, 32. 
Peplos of Athena, the, 333, 365, 531. 
Pericles, 52, 55, 57, 69, 215-218, 223, 226, 

236* 35 l > 373. 381, 395>55 I - 

portrait of, 255-256. 

tomb of, 457. 
Perseus, in pictures in Propylaea, 241. 

on vases, 162-163. 
Persians, invasion of Attica by, 45-48. 

sack of Athens by, 85, 208-210, 382. 
Phaedrus, the archon, 451. 
Phalerum, 16, 23, 51, 57-58, 66. 

harbour of, 543, 544, 551-553. 

pottery from, 159. 
Phidias, 215, 217, 224, 226, 315, 340, 342- 

343> 364. 

Athena Parthenos by, 344-351. 

first recorded work of, 214. 

statues by, 246, 248, 250, 253, 254, 395- 
396, 520, 523. 
Phidippides, 92. 

Philip V. of Macedon, 59, 62, 63. 
Philo, the architect, 399, 481, 557. 
Philochorus, 362-363. 
Philopappus, Caius Julius Antiochus, 497. 

monument of, 11, 496-498. 
Philostratus, 145-146, 247, 532. 
Phormio, 247. 

tomb of, 457. 
Phyle, 64. 

Pictures in hall of Propylaea, 241. 
Pinacotheke, the name, 241 n. 
Pindar, quoted, 1 70-1 71, 305. 

statue of, 521. 
Piraeus, 2, 51, 72, 542-563. 

harbours of, 553-555, 562-563. 



Piraeus, modern port of, 15. 

named Porto Leone, 561. 

plan of, by Hippodamus, 384, 549-551. 

project for removing Athens to, 215- 
216, 383, 547. 
Pisianax, 388. 

Pisistratus, 18, 44, 56, 81, 83, 96, 114, 117, 
118, 120, 121, 122, 137-138, 177, 
209, 486, 525. 

aqueduct built by, 26. 

influence of, on art, 185, 191. 
Pit of sacrifice, the, 97, 98, 426. 
Plataea, battle of, 376. 
Plato, 16-17, 24, 69, 386, 396,477,482, 
528, 529. 

geological theorising by, 11-13. 

tomb of, 457, 532. 
Plato, comic poet, 457. 
Pliny, 30, 185, 344. 
Plutarch, 56, 106, 258, 350 n. 
Plutus, Aristophanes', 429, 431. 
Pnyx, the, 1 1, 12, 90, 103-107. 

water supply of, 25-26. 
Polemo, 241. 

Poliorcetes, Demetrius, 59, 482. 
Polycrates of Samos, 26-27, J 39> 
Polygnotus, 241, 377, 384, 388, 392, 393, 

5 2 4- 
Porcelain, ornaments in, 174-175. 
Poros stone, 30, 1 79. 

sculptures in, 182-184. 
Portico of — 

Eumenes, 484. 

Hall of Mysteries, Eleusis, 481, 557. 

the King, 518. 

See Stoa. 
Porticoes — 

in the Agora, 386-390. 

of Erechtheum, 356. 

the Long, 384. 

of Propylaea, 225-226, 228. 
Portraits of censors, 483. 
Posidon, contest between Athena and, 
23, 247-248, 293, 295-304, 358. 

cult of, 363, 365-366. 

salt spring of, 23, 77, 359, 366. 
Potters' Quarter, the, 63, 90, 136, 154. 
Pottery, black-figured, 164-166. 

from early cemeteries, 153-154. 

Mycenaean, 75-76, 154. 

Oriental, 159-160, 175. 

Phaleric, 159-161, 175. 



INDEX 



575 



Pottery, prehistoric, 74. 

red-figured, 166-168. 
Praxiteles, sculpture on tomb by, 462. 

Satyr of, 403, 529. 

sons of, 521. 

statues by, 515. 
Principles of Athenian Architecture, Pen- 
rose's, 271. 
Procession, of the Mysteries, 63. 

Panathenaic, 45, no, 133, 137, 514. 

in Parthenon frieze, 322-336. 
Processions, funeral, on vases, 156. 
Prodomus, the, 222. 
Pronapus, 241. 
Propylaea, the, 23, 30, 34, 35, 217, 386. 

detailed description, 224-234. 

Ionic architecture of, 367. 
Propylaea at Eleusis, 492. 
Protogenes, 520. 
Prytanes, the, 391, 520. 
Prytaneum, the, 126, 134, 137, 390, 526. 
Ptolemy (Philadelphus?), 482, 483, 520, 

5 2 5- 
Puchstein, Professor, 444-445, 447* 
Pyrrhus, the sculptor, 244-245. 
Pythium, the, 96 m, 1 19, 135, 141-148, 

149, 5 2 7- 

Q 

Quarries, Naxian, 32-33. 
Parian, 32-33. 
Pentelic, 33-35, 503. 

R 

Relief of the Graces (Propylaea), 242. 
Reliefs, Neo-Attic, 379. 

in Theatre of Dionysus, 449, 450. 

on tombs, 463-472. 
Repousse work on antique bowl, 176. 
Restoration of buildings, question of, 509- 

510. 
Revett, 261. 
Rhamnus, 277. 
Rhea, 396. 

Rhodes, resemblance of, to Piraeus, 549. 
Rivers of Athenian plain, 16-17. 
Robert, 298. 
Rock-cuttings, 74-75. 
Rome, emperors of, in Athens, 491-503. 
Rome, Middleton's, 29, 32. 
Ross, 218, 374, 381, 507-508. 
Pvuskin, on horses in Parthenon frieze, 339. 



Sacred Gate. See under Gate. 

Sacred Way, the, 10, 63, 135, 136, 456, 

5*5- 

Saint Paul in Athens, 504-505. 
Salamis, 3, 135, 217. 

battle of, 207, 375-376, 546, 548. 
Salt pool in Erechtheum, 23, 77, 359, 

366. 
Samos, 179. 

Sandstone, Athenian, 30. 
Sarcophagi, sculptured, 461. 

of Sidon, 354, 470. 
Satyrs in sculpture of Theatre of Dionysus, 

440, 450. 
Sauer, Professor, 294-295, 304, 307-308, 

410 n., 414, 420-421. 
Scamander, marriage bath in, 19. 
Schrader, Dr., 1 81 n. 
Scopas, 469. 

Sculpture, athletic school of, 203-207, 
289-292. 

in bronze, 201-202. 

of early temples, 179, 182. 

of Nike frieze, 376-377. 

of Parthenon, 281-343. 
Sculptures in poros, 182, 183-184. 
Segesta, 277. 
Selinus, 423. 

Semnae, shrine of the, 103, 535. 
Senate House. See Buleuterium. 
Shield of Achilles, 157. 
Ship, the Panathenaic, 145-146, 531-532. 
Sicyon, 153. 
Sirens, in tomb reliefs, 473. 

on vases, 159. 
'LK.evod'fjKT), the, 557-558. 
2/ctds, the, 391. 
Smith, Cecil, 345 n., 350 n. 
Snake of Athena, the, 297. 
Snakes in tomb reliefs, 473. 
Socrates, 57. 

disapproval of private splendour of, 
407. 

relief of the Graces made by, 242. 

tomb of, 457. 
Solon, 44. 

tomb of, 457. 
Sophocles, 436, 531. 
Sparta, tombs of, 154. 
Spata, 174. 



576 



INDEX 



Spenser, Edmund, 396. 

Sphinxes in tomb reliefs, 473. 

Spon, 21, 260. 

Spring, a sacred, 425. 

Springs in Athens, 18-25. 

Stadium, the, 35, 121-122, 398-399, 5°3, 

5 2 9- 
Stages in Greek theatres, 443-449. 

Statues of — 
Agrippa, 495. 
Aphrodite, 243. 
Aphrodite in the gardens, 397. 
Aphrodite Urania, 395-396, 523. 
Apollo Parnopius, 250. 
Apollo Pythius, 527. 
Ares, 397. 
Athena, 188, 213-215, 223-224, 251, 

2 53, 254, 5 2 3- 
Athena Hephaestia, 254. 
Athena Hygieia, 242, 244-246, 516. 
Athena Parthenos, 221, 223, 257, 258, 

267, 343-35 !» 482. 
Athena Promachos, 215. 
Athena and Heracles, 398. 
Athena and Marsyas, 247. 
Cylon, 252. 

Demetrius of Phalerum, 481.. 
Demosthenes, 521. 
Diitrephes, 243. 
Dionysus, 397, 404, 435, 453. 
Dionysus Eleuthereus, 122, 454. 
Dionysus Melpomenos, 516. 
Epicharinus, 246. 
Epimenides of Crete, 522. 
Eponymi, 392, 520. 
Erechtheus, 252. 
Erechtheus and Eumolpus, 252. 
Hadrian, 527. 
Hecate, 397. 
Hephaestus, 397, 523. 
Heracles and Cycnus, 252. 
Heracles strangling serpents, 247. 
Hermes Agoraios, 524. 
Hermes Propylaea, 242. 
Hermolycus the Pancratiast, 247. 
Hestia, 390. 
Isocrates, 515, 527. 
Knights (on Acropolis), 240-242. 
Leaena, 473. 
Lucius Caesar, 493-494. 
Man carrying a calf, 33, 184. 
Marsyas, 247. 



Statues of — 

Miltiades, 526. 

Mother of the Gods, 396. 

Pegasus of Eleutherae, 517. 

Perseus, 246. 

Phormio, 247. 

Phrixus sacrificing ram, 247. 

Pindar, 521. 

Procne and Itys, 248-249. 

the Ptolemies, 522. 

Pyrrhus, 522. 

Seleucus, 524. 

Socrates, 515. 

Solon, 524. 

the Sosandra, 243. 

Themistocles, 526. 

Theseus and Minotaur, 247. 

Tolmides, 252. 

Trojan horse, 246. 

Tyrannicides, 128, 131, 137, 138, 203- 
204, 247, 417, 480, 521. 

Xanthippus, 250. 

Zeus, 527. 

Zeus Eleutherios, 519. 

Zeus Olympus, 372. 

Zeus Polieus, 249. 

Zeus Soter, 387. 
Statues, erected by Attalus L, 483-484. 

in Buleuterium, 520. 

in the Propylaea, 242-244. 

in Stoa Basileios, 518-519. 

in temple of Ares, 521. 

in Theatre of Dionysus, 453. 
Statuette, of Athena Parthenos found at 
Patras, 345. 

the Lenormant, 345. 

the Varvakeion, 345. 
Statuettes, 202-203. 
Stelae, 113 n., 459, 475. 
Stephani, 298. 
Stoa, of Attalus, 60, 483, 485-486, 507, 

5i8, 525- 
Basileios, 386-387, 422, 505, 518. 
Eleutherios, 387-388. 
of Eumenes, 53, 98, 452. 
the Long, 560. 
Pcecile (Painted Stoa), 388-390, 482, 

524. 
Stoics, the, 390, 524. 
Stones of Violence and Ruthlessness, 100, 

53i- 
Strabo, 17, 24, 144-145, J 47> 549, 559- 



INDEX 



577 



Strangford shield, the, 345, 350. 
Street — 

Hermes, 388, 516, 517. 

Sophocles, 68. 

of the Tripods, 403, 529, 536. 
Streets in early Athens, 108-110. 
Strongylium, 246. 

Stuart, 28, 179 n., 261, 360, 384, 404. 
Sulla, 59, 62, 64, 395, 487, 49 I ~49 2 » 5 X 4, 

5 2 9, 559- 
Syra, port of, 15. 
Syracuse, 153. 



Tarantinus, 20-21. 

Temple, an Ionic, on the Ilissus, 179. 

Temple of — 

Aphrodite, 528. 

Aphrodite Euploia, 557. 

Aphrodite Pandemos, 530. 

Aphrodite Urania, 395-396. 

Apollo Delphinius, 527. 

Apollo Patrous, 422, 519. 

Ares, 521, 531. 

Artemis Agrotera, 384-385, 529. 

Artemis Munychia, 550. 

Aslcepius at Epidaurus, 341. 

Athena (early), 29, 76, 77, 78-81, 103, 
177, 178, 181 n., 209-210, 223, 235, 
363-364. 

Athena Nike, 217-218, 224, 225, 226, 

234-235* 367, 373-38o. 
Athena Polias, 356, 362, 364. 
Cronos and Rhea, 118, 527. 
Delphi, 187. 

Demeter, 121, 384-385, 517. 
Demeter at Phalerum, 550. 
Demeter Chloe, 530. 
Demeter, Persephone, and Iacchus, 

. 5I5 ' 
Dionysus, 435. 

Dionysus Eleuthereus, 122-123. 

Dionysus in the Marshes, 123-124, 

141, 142, 143, 148-149, 151. 

Dionysus by the Theatre, 31. 

the Dioscuri, 97, 137, 393, 421 n., 525. 

Earth, 141, 142. 

Erechtheus, 356. 

Eucleia, 385, 523. 

Hephaestus, 397, 422, 523. 

Hera, 503, 513-514. 

Heracles in Melite, 86-87, 4 2 4- 



Temple of — 

Ilithyia, 526. 

Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome, 487. 

the Mother of the Gods, 519. 

Nike, 55, 179, 385, 508, 509. 

Olympian Zeus, 21, 118-119, 141-148, 
423, 486-487, 498-499> 5 2 7- 

Rome and Augustus, 360, 495. 

Sarapis, 526. 

Themis, 530. 

Triptolemus, 522. 

Triptolemus in Agrae (?), 384-385. 

Wingless Victory, 58. 

Zeus Panhellenius, 503. 

See Erechtheum, Parthenon, Theseum. 
Temples, on Acropolis, sixth century, 
83-85. 

in Athens of fifth and fourth centuries, 
384-386. 

Ionic order of architecture in, 179. 

of Piraeus, 550. 
Terra-cotta, the original, 161-162. 
Theagenes of Megara, 26, 139. 
Theatre — 

of Agrippa, 495-496. 

of Dionysus, 26, 30, 98, 1 23-125, 131, 

395* 398*399, 453-454, 484, 5°7> 
526. 

acoustic properties of, 438. 

date of, 433-436, 447-448. 

as place of assembly, 452. 

seats in, 438-440. 

question of stage in, 443-449. 

at Epidaurus, by Polyclitus, 438. 

the Great, 98, 382. 
Thebes, 153. 
Themistocles, 61, 135, 212, 213, 383, 506, 

545-549- 
plan for building Parthenon attributed 

to, 210. 
tomb of, 457, 559, 560. 
walls built by, 50-52. 
Theodorus of Samos, 185. 
Theophrastus, 30, 96. 
Theseum, the, 6, 127, 382, 392-393, 396- 

397, 5 l8 - 
architecture of, 411-413. 
built by Cimon, 525. 
history of, 411. 
identification of, 421-425. 
metopes of, 289-290, 292. 
Theseus, 73, 78, 127, 137, 498. 



2 P 



5 78 



INDEX 



Theseus, in paintings, 525. 

in Parthenon pediment, 309, 315-317, 
320. 

in statues on Acropolis, 252. 

in terra-cotta group above Stoa Basi- 
leios, 287. 

inTheseum frieze, 414, 416. 

on vases, 415. 
Thirty Tyrants, the, 59, 106, 556. 
Tholus, the, 126, 134, 137, 390-391, 520. 
Tholus of Polyclitus at Epidaurus, 426. 
Thoricus, tombs at, 154. 
Thrasybulus, 59, 398, 556-557. 

tomb of, 457. „ 

Thrasyllus, choragic monument of, 403- 

404, 433- 
Thucydides, 8, 27, 113, 119 n., 216, 256, 
382, 456, 527, 532. 
cited^concerning — 

the assassination of Hipparchus, 44- 

45- 
the dress of women, 196. 

the fountain Enneacrunus, 18-19. 
a third Long Wall, 69-70. 
tombstones built into walls, 49, 64. 
-topography of early Athens, 88, 91, 

126, 141-151. 
walls of Themistocles, 51-52. 
dtipcj/xa, to, 371. 
Thymele, the, 426. 
Timon the Misanthrope, 532. 
Timotheus, 341. 
Tiryns, postern at, 42. 
remains found at, 76. 
walls of, 39-40. 
Tolmides, 252. 

Tomb of Deucalion, 118, 527. 
Tombs, in and around Athens, 67, 456- 
458. 
reliefs from, 201. 
sculpture on, 462-478. 
statues from, 201. 
vases from, 168-170. 
Tombstones, on Acropolis, 85. 

fifth and fourth century, 459-460. 
sculptured, 154. 
in walls, 49, 64. 
Tourkovouni, 2, 6, II. 
Tower, Prankish, on Acropolis, 61, 508 
of Timon the Misanthrope, 532. 
at Tiryns, 40. 
of the Winds, 24, 488-491, 533. 



Travertine, 30, 31. 

Treasury, Cnidian, at Delphi, 354. 

Trident mark in Erechtheum, 359, 366. 

Tripods, votive, 399, 404-405, 529. 

Triptolemus, 6. 

Turks in Athens, 60, 218, 260-261. 

Typhon on pediment, 181, 183. 

U 
University, so-called, in Athens, 483. 

V 

Valerian, 60. 

Varro, 491. 

Varvakeion statuette, 345, 347. 

Vase, the Francois, 163-164, 195. 

the Kertch, 302. 
Vases, birth of Athena on, 305-306. 

black -figured, 162-163. 

burial, 171-172. 

Dipylon, 1 54-1 61. 

funeral, 1 71-172. 

frequency of Heracles on, 87. 

geometrical, 154-155* I 57~ I 5 8 - 

in marble, 174. 

for the marriage bath, 19. 

Oriental, 175. 

Phaleric, 1 59-161. 

of pre-Persian Athens, 136. 

prothesis, 172-174. 

purposes of, 170-174. 

from tombs, 456, 45 8 ~459» 474"477- 
Vase-painting, black-figured, 164-166, 

red-figured, 166-168, 173. 
Victory, in hand of Athena Parthenos, 350. 

of Archermus on Delos, 199. 
Victories, flying, 199. 

in Nike frieze, 378-379. 
Vitruvius, 25, 61, 268, 452, 487, 488, 489, 

491. 
Votive offerings in Parthenon, 249-250. 
Votive tripods, 529. 

W 

Waldstein, Charles, 281 n.,311. 
Wall — 

Cimonian (of Acropolis), 30, 52-56. 

Hadrian's, 67, 68. 

the Pelasgian, 29, 37, 42-44. 55» 2II » 
212, 217, 230, 231. 



INDEX 



579 



Wall — 

supporting, of Parthenon, 211. 

of the Pnyx, 105-106. 
Walls — 

the Long, 36,46, 56-60, 65-66, 71-72, 
215, 219, 383, 514, 547. 

of Themistocles, 50-52, 64, 67. 
"Water-clock in Tower of the Winds, 489. 
Water supply, Athenian, 61, 108. 
Weber head, the, 320-321. 
Wells in Athens, 24, 25, 108. 
Wheler, 21, 120, 218, 260, 321, 373, 

554 n., 560-561. 
Winds, the, in sculpture, 489-490. 
Wine-press, an early, iio-iii, 140. 
Women depicted on tombs, 478. 






Xanthippus, 250. 
Xenophon, 70, 238, 407. 

the name, not uncommon, 241 n. 
Xerxes, removal of statues by, 128, 138 n., 
203,480, 521. 



Zappeion, the, 504. 

Zea, harbour of, 554, 558, 562-563. 

Zeno, 390, 482, 524. 

Zeus, in Nike frieze, 375. 

in Parthenon frieze, 329. 
Zeus Eleutherios, 387-388. 
Zeus Soter, 387-388. 



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